Yuuri's Travels: Strange Occurrences
by seamusog
Summary: And Interesting Phenomenons: Whenever Yuuri went back to Shin Makoku without Murata, he kept appearing wherever Wolfram happened to be. Series of one-shots that chronicles some of Yuuri's arrivals through the years. Wolfyuu/Yuuram
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Maruma franchise. If I did, the novels would probably not have been written in Japanese and Conrad would have been happily married to a nice girl.

Summary: Series of snapshots.

_The power for traveling was all from Yuuri but it was Murata that directed their voyage._ What happens when the navigator isn't there? With inadequate directions involving sappy sayings (oh yeah 'Home is where the heart is' - really good instructions there Murata!), how can Yuuri mess up? YuurixWolfram

* * *

**Prologue:**

**Arriving is such sweet sorrow!**

The first time it happened, no one noticed. After all, the standard delegation was there at the fountain to welcome Yuuri back: Gunter, Conrart, Wolfram and Greta.

The second time it happened, they all thought it a bit strange but didn't put any more thought into it. After all, Yuuri had not given them a specific date and time and if the king would rather arrive through a warm bath as opposed to a cold fountain, well, that was his prerogative. The only real fallout was a pleasantly surprised naked Wolfram and a blubbering, red-faced, mortified Yuuri clumsily trying to escape the slippery and soapy entanglement of limbs as fast as he possibly could. The commotion had quickly caught the attention of castle's residents and within a few minutes the Maou's bath was filled with the usual suspects hugging and welcoming Yuuri back to Shin Makoku.

It was rare for Yuuri to travel to Earth and back to Shin Makoku without Murata Ken. So it's to be expected that, when it finally happened the third time, everyone (except for Wolfram) had already forgotten about the previous strange homecoming. The power for traveling was all from Yuuri but it was Murata that directed their voyage. And Murata Ken liked coming home to a courtyard full of beautiful, virgin spearwomen. Consequently, it was standard for them to land at the temple's fountain. Ulrike was usually able to predict their arrival or, more specifically, the sage's arrival -- Murata's constant proximity seemed to have cemented Ulrike's sense for his presence or perhaps it was Shinou's presence that helped -- so it was also standard to have a small delegation greet them with towels and a change of clothes. This was the normal scene for the Maou's arrivals. Unfortunately, Ulrike's connection to Yuuri's presence was not at all developed. Invariably, she was unable to predict most of his arrivals when he traveled by himself. Not the when and not the where. She did not sense him at all the third time the phenomenon happened. If she had, she would have certainly sent a message to Blood Pledge Castle perhaps preventing the hullaballoo that marred Gunter's perfectly planned banquet. Perhaps it would have not helped anyway.

It was a rather memorable homecoming for everyone, but especially for Yuuri, who found himself precariously balanced between Wolfram's ruined place setting and an unidentified roasted mammal then treated to a marathon ear-dragging by the irate blonde who paced him from the banquet hall to the Maou's baths to the Maou's bedchambers and back to the banquet hall, and for the Zoratian delegation, who were treated to the bizarre Shin Makoku tradition of the Maou blessing and confirming a newly-formed alliance through the strange ceremony of appearing from thin air (or is that thick soup?) in the middle of the dining table at the celebratory banquet. Of course, there was no such tradition, but the ambassadors assumed that the impromptu show was such; they were in demon country after all.

Everyone properly welcomed the king back to his kingdom forty minutes later once he reappeared in the banquet hall, de-souped, dried and dressed, and utilizing a more conventional method of arrival. His escort, who had by that time calmed down from the shock of having his fiancé pop up from his soup and ridding his embarrassment through the appropriate execution of a bit of domestic violence, joined the party of wellwishers. Soon enough, the bit of strangeness was forgotten as everyone got caught up in the joy and revelry of new alliances, old friendships and strong familial bonds. Yuuri was home again and it felt good.

The problem remained unnoticed for a long time. It wasn't really a problem per se except for the king and his accidental fiancé. To the whole of Shin Makoku, if they had known, it was merely an interesting phenomenon.

Ironically, even though they were the most inconvenienced, it was neither Yuuri nor Wolfram that discovered it first. It was Conrart that had the first inkling of what was going on. Even though his preternatural sense for Yuuri's presence was not as well developed as Ulrike's was for the sage's, it was strong enough that majority of the time, he was the first to arrive at Yuuri's unexpected homecomings. Conrart's super-Lion-of-Ruthenberg-and-general-knight-errant sense started tingling after he bore witness to the fourth or fifth scene of an embarrassed and irritated Wolfram scolding an embarrassed and cowering newly-arrived-Yuuri.

Not all the actual occurrences resulted with such extreme emotions. Some of them seemed fairly normal arrivals and did not stand out in anyone's minds including Conrart's. But the strange ones more than made up for these. At first the 'interesting phenomenon' merited no cause for concern, but with Murata's decision to spend more time on Earth to concentrate and finish his studies, the occurrences became too irritatingly frequent and too irritatingly unpredictable for Wolfram who suspected that he was beginning to develop a nervous tick every time Yuuri was on Earth.

Yuuri, however, did not have as strong a reaction, he just thought it strange that his body kept wanting to appear in various liquids and containers and vaguely blamed Murata for his all too inadequate instructions on inter-dimensional travel. Later on, after seeing the shocking pattern, Yuuri unreasonably and selfishly put a little bit of the blame on Wolfram for being his fiancé. Yuuri tried to shrug it off and ignore it, he was too busy to put any thought or effort in such a little inconvenience.

However, after the umpteenth time that the third son of the ex-Maou was treated to an unexpected appearance of the Shin Makoku sovereign, something broke. One would not say that all hell broke loose, but perhaps one might admit that a little part of hell was no longer quite up to snuff.


	2. Arrival Gate: 1 Fishpond

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Maruma franchise. If I did, the novels would probably not have been written in Japanese and Conrad would have been happily married to a nice girl... probably named Sara.

Spoilers: I guess I forgot to put spoilers. Umm... let's see I guess there could be spoilers up to anything that has been published or broadcasted up to now. So up to episode 94.

Summary: Series of snapshots. _The power for traveling was all from Yuuri but it was Murata that directed their voyage._ What happens when the navigator isn't there? With inadequate directions involving sappy sayings (oh yeah 'Home is where the heart is' - really good instructions there Murata!), how can Yuuri mess up? YuurixWolfram

A/N: This is my first fanfic so comments and criticisms are welcome.

**Arrival Gate: 1 - Fishpond**

_There was the time when Yuuri appeared in one of the greenhouse fishponds while Wolfram and Greta were having a picnic. _

Greta's eyes went wide. Wolfram turned around and was awarded with the sight of Yuuri rising from the pond, tripping over the decorative stones then trying to catch the resident fish that was none too happy to suddenly find a too large companion in its home.

Cries of "Yuuri! You're home!" and "What do you think you're doing, wimp!?" were simultaneously issued from Yuuri's two-person audience as he fell painfully on the pebbly ground.

Thankfully, Wolfram and Greta were not just members of a useless peanut gallery there to heckle him. Both were already off the blanket with Wolfram joining Yuuri in playing catch-me-if-you-can with the fish while Greta vacillated between helping them and hugging Yuuri. She settled for hugging Yuuri with one arm and batting the fish with the other. It took a couple minutes of giggling and scrambling and Greta yelling "Wisc!" and bumping into each other and falling down and more giggling before the blue fish was finally back home. It swam indignantly under an outcrop swishing its long tail at them with extreme attitude.

"Hey Wolf! That fish has the same bratty moves as you," grinned Yuuri several moments later. Greta giggled. Wolfram indignantly crossed his arms and tossed his head with extreme attitude.

"Hmph. I don't know why you're trying to kill Gunter's fish. If you must land in the greenhouse, use the fountain over there. There would be less casualties and less damage." Said the rumpled and dirtied Mazoku who reminded Yuuri of the very pretty flashy blue fish.

"I wasn't trying to land here, you know. I was aiming for the fountain in the front courtyard. I didn't know I was going to end up swimming with Mr. Fish..."

"Wisc!" corrected Greta.

"...with Mr. Whisk the Pretty Blue Fish," finished Yuuri.

"Not that I mind, and your family should be the first one you see, but Yuuri, not only are your sword fighting and horse riding skills lacking, but your navigation skills as well. The courtyard is clear across the opposite way!"

"Hey, it's not as if I was given directions like turn left at the big bubble and make a right at the swirly water and I don't get to pull out a giant map of the multi-universe while traversing dimensions."

"From what I've seen, the sage always arrives at his intended destination. I know you're not in the same league intellectually, but you're the Maou."

Yuuri decided to ignore that remark especially since he knew very well he was not in the same league as prestigious-private-high-school-student-and-boy-genius-Muraken. "... Greta, you're going to smell like pond water if you hug me like that."

"Don't worry about her dress, it'll wash off. Your arrivals have been very erratic the last few times," said Wolfram thoughtfully. "I won't be angry though, I know the time difference is not an easy thing to control." He paused then added, "We're really happy to see you." And he gave Yuuri that soft smile that was reserved only for Yuuri. It ended too soon as Wolfram shifted his gaze back to the pond.

Yuuri sighed in contentment. He was happy to be home. With Greta hugging him. Wolfram not in angry-mode. Watching a fish with scales a shade darker than Wolfram's uniform. A long beautiful swishy graceful tail. The fish had by this time gotten over its irritation and swam around freely.

"Is it named Whisk because it swishes its tail just so," he asked half rhetorically. "Whisk, whisk, whisk. At least it's better than Wimp, right fish?"

"Wisc is the nickname," answered Greta, "It's a reverse ast...ack...ark..."

"...acronym", supplied Wolfram smiling at her.

"It's a reverse acronym that stands for it's name. We reversed it because C-S-I-W is hard to pronounce," Greta informed Yuuri proudly.

"C-S-I...W as in Washington? Crime Scene Investigation: Washington?"

The two just looked at him as if he popped an extra head. Yuuri grabbed the back of his neck sheepishly. Nope, no extra heads there.

"Just an American TV show... Well, there's no CSI Washington. Just CSI, CSI Miami and CSI New York. But I don't think they've made a CSI Washington... I mean if they did, would they use the state or the city?"

"Yuuri, you should leave Earth nonsense on Earth," Wolfram said flatly.

"Just because it comes from Earth does not necessarily mean it's nonsense. Earth sense has served me well, has served this kingdom well and continues to do so..."

"I did not say leave Earth sense there. I said leave Earth nonsense there. If you cannot tell the difference, which (since you are a wimp) you probably can't, then I, your well-chosen fiancé, will tell you."

"Well, that's very kind of you, Wolfram. What would I ever do without you."

"It's only one of the many duties as your fiancé. I'm happy to hear you finally admit how much you need me." Wolfram smirked.

"So C-S-I-W..." Yuuri prompted Greta. He'd like to get away from the subject of the duties of a fiancé, especially a fiancé who takes Yuuri's sarcastic put-downs, strips them off their sarcasm and takes them as compliments.

"It stands for Conrart Swims in Water!"

Yuuri chuckled. So Gunter's pet fish is not an aquatic clone of the third son of the ex-Maou but the aquatic clone of the flower named after the second son of the ex-Maou.

"Why would Gunter get a fish that looks like Wolfram and name it after Conrad's flower?" Yuuri queried no one in particular. Though after it was out, he wished he could pluck the question back out of the air, stuff it in his pocket and throw it in the first garbage receptacle he saw. He doubted Wolfram liked being compared to a fish, no matter how pretty the fish was. He waited for a punch, a headlock or... wait Wolfram was talking calmly. He should probably just listen.

"Gunter didn't buy the fish or name it. We talked about this two months ago remember?" When nothing came out of Yuuri's mouth despite it opening and shutting numerous times, Yuuri doing a very good impression of the fish that Wolfram was compared to a second ago, Wolfram continued. "You wanted to honor Gunter with a gift for helping with Greta's studies when you and I are both away. This is the present we got him."

"You got him a fish?!" Yuuri was a bit incredulous. Sure, he had forgotten about the little thank you gift for Gunter, but he thought Wolfram would at least give him something a little bit more... well, meaningful. Their daughter was a big responsibility to be handing off just to anyone.

Wolfram was slightly hurt by that outburst but didn't say anything opting to reach his hand to the pond and make ripples in the water, watching the patterns they made as the blue fish swam underneath.

"Yuuri, we actually got him three fish," said Greta in a happy voice. "Want to see the other ones?"

Yuuri nodded in response to Greta's question but looked at Wolfram instead. Greta took his hand and started leading him towards another corner of the enormous greenhouse. Wolfram followed them.

"Wolfram and I picked them out. They're very symbolic," she said matter-of-factly. "It took us a while because the solid ones are rare. Even Gwendal had to help because we had to keep Gunter from the messenger pigeons."

"What do messenger pigeons have to do with pet fishes?" Yuuri _had_ to ask.

"Well, because we had to keep them a secret from Gunter." Of course, thought Yuuri. He should not have bothered asking. It was plain to see that the connection between pigeons and fishes is keeping secrets from Gunter.

"Anyway," Greta continued, ignoring Yuuri's internal diatribe, "we went to about twenty markets. Well, I only got to go to twenty markets. Wolfram went to many more, Greta only got to go with him half the time but it was fun because we always stopped and looked at other shops too.

"Then we had to write hundreds of letters to merchants all over the kingdom. There were so many of them, it took Conrart several days just to get a list of all the pet vendors in Shin Makoku.

"Then Wolfram painted pieces of papers to give each merchant a sample of the color green we wanted. I helped roll them in with the letters and I helped send them out. We spent a week at the rookery because we were only allowed to use a fifth of the castle's pigeons at a time. So we had to send them out in shifts. Yozak taught Greta all about the messenger pigeons and the rookery, how the pigeons find their way, what they eat, how to take care of them, where you can hide them while you're spying. It was so much fun.

"And Wolfram ended up doing a painting of Gisela because when we were trying to get the right color of green, Gunter came in the room and wondered what Wolfram and I were doing rotating Gisela about by the window surrounded by a bunch of green paint. The painting came out really nice and Wolfram gave it to Gunter.

"So, after that, Anissina took Gunter away for the rest of the week and she built a whole bunch of new inventions for him to help with. That way we could keep the messenger pigeons secret and he didn't look for me to take lessons. The inventions were pretty cool, I wish I could have seen them all. There was the Freshen-Your-Underwear-While-You're-Wearing-It-kun, the Love-Conquers-All-kun, the Find-A-Funny-Walk-kun and the Bonetti-Defends-Capa-Ferro-Attacks-kun -- I'm not sure what that one did. But The Love-Conquers-All-kun blew up one of the rooms and Gwendal wasn't too happy about that."

They arrived at the little pond similar to the one they just left. In it was the same fish but with the exact color of the healer's hair and eyes.

"Wow, it really is the color of Gisela!" exclaimed Yuuri.

"Yes, isn't it pretty?"

"Very."

"It took a while to get all the letters back from the merchants. This color was the hardest to find." Greta continued on with the story as she and Yuuri sat on their haunches watching the fish and Wolfram stopped a step behind watching his odd little family. "When we got all the positive responses together -- we counted ten of them -- then we mapped them out. They were all over the territories. Wolfram was going to fetch the fish but I wanted to come too so Lady Celi took us on a trip to find free love through Shin Makoku territories."

"You went on a trip to find free love?" Yuuri narrowed accusing eyes at Wolfram. He didn't notice that he had stood up or that he had balled his hands into fists. Wolfram rolled his eyes.

"Gunter wanted to come when he learned Greta and I were going on a trip around the territories. He was told the reason for the trip was for Greta to learn about her adopted country. You do remember Gunter's position is that of an advisor and tutor, right? Since you weren't around to advise, he felt it was his job to keep tabs on your beloved fiancé and tutor your cute daughter."

"He also said he didn't want bad people to take Wolfram."

"He insisted on coming especially since neither Conrart nor Gwendal volunteered to chaperon us. But when Mother said she was actually taking me on a trip to search for free love, he backed off quickly."

"Gunter was very happy about it and even told Wolfram 'good luck' and 'do your best' and 'your love is out there, find it, take it with both hands and never let go'. Then his nose bled."

Wolfram snickered and Greta giggled at the memory of the overdramatic advisor imagining Yuuri free from the bonds of Wolfram's engagement. Yuuri laughed too after a bit.

"So what's this one's name?" Yuuri asked.

"It's Wart." answered Greta.

"Wart?? Who in their..."

Wolfram interjected before Yuuri could finish. "Before you insert your foot in your mouth and insult people through your appalling ignorance, let me go ahead and stop you. Mother named Wart. It seems to be an inside joke between her and Gisela. I personally don't have knowledge of the humor but Gunter loved the name and he seems to know its source. It's neither your place nor mine to judge the name."

Yuuri looked at Wolfram critically and realized, "You insulted the name didn't you? Did Lady Celi scold you?" He hit right on the head. Then imitating Wolfram, Yuuri added, "Honestly, I don't know how you survived the first eighty odd years of your life without me, your beloved king, by your side."

"Are you mocking me?"

"So did you find out what the joke was?" Yuuri asked Greta.

"-wimp..." Wolfram muttered under his breath.

"Wolfram tried finding out from Gunter and Gisela but they didn't say," answered Greta pouting a little.

Wolfram sighed and added, "...even Greta came up with nothing and she has cuteness on her side."

"Lady Celi only laughed when I asked her. Gwendal and Conrad have never ever heard of anything about a 'Wart' and Anissina is still working on Spill-All-Your-Secrets-kun."

"Well, Yuuri, this may be where your talents can be useful."

"My talents? What? How?" Yuuri asked suspiciously.

"Gunter has a big soft spot for you..."

Greta's eyes were big and shiny at the thought of finally finding out what the mysterious secret was about. It was the kind of big and shiny that could not be denied. It only took one look at Greta's face for Yuuri to relent. Not that he wasn't curious anyway. So he scrunched his brow into what he thought was a thoughtful, analytical frown, stroke his chin and said, "Hmmm... this sounds like a job for the Shibuya Investigations Team. Never fear the Maou is here!"

"Yay!!" Greta clapped her hands. Then she jumped into Yuuri's arms and he spun her for a turn and a half almost falling down and stumbling. Wolfram was so much better at that than he was.

"Do you want to see the third fish?" Greta asked happily.

"Oh yes, what color is that one?"

"Black."

"Ahh... why black?"

"Come on," Greta beckoned. "I'll tell you on the way."

"Ok, let's go." Yuuri grabbed Greta's hand and tossed a glance backwards to make sure Wolfram was following.

"As you know, we got three fish of different colors."

"Yes, a blue one, a green one and a black one."

"They stand for three different people."

"Let me guess, the blue one is for Conrad, the green one is for Gisela and the black one is for me."

"Right. You're pretty smart Yuuri."

"Hear that, Wolf. That's straight out of your daughter's mouth."

More eye-rolling from Wolfram.

"Oh yeah? Answer me this, why should Gunter receive a present that would signify Conrad, Gisela and you?"

"Hmmm... because we're his favorite people in the whole wide world?"

"I give you points for trying and for not being completely off the mark." Yuuri beamed at Wolfram's answer and Wolfram ignored him. "Personal presents coming from the Maou must have a meaning showing the Maou's recognition of that person. The most elegant way is to pick a present that shows a representation of that person's 'being' using colors to symbolize the person's kingdom, family and self."

"So the black fish is to represent me, the king of Shin Makoku and green for Gisela his daughter to represent his family."

"Right."

"I don't understand the blue one then."

"Of course, you don't."

"..."

"..."

"Are you really happy to see me?"

"Of course, I am."

"..."

"(Smirk) The last fish is to represent Gunter's 'self'," Wolfram said finally after relishing a couple more seconds of silent taunting.

"I figured that part out. But unless Conrad is Gunter's alter ego, I don't know how he can be the representation of Gunter."

"I am not sure what you mean by alter ego... but Gunter's career is teaching as a military instructor, an advisor, and a tutor. This would be Gunter's passion, a representation of his 'self'. Conrart is Gunter's best and, probably, favorite student."

"Ahhh, I see now... but I thought I'm Gunter's favorite."

"Not as a student, you're not."

"I'm amazed at all the thinking that had to go into this one present. I can't imagine having to do that for all the gifts I give out. I mean I didn't have to do any of that when we sent presents to Mr. Baldy and Lady Flynn and whoever else we sent presents to."

"Just because you didn't doesn't mean that no one did. Do you think Gunter would be sloppy enough to send just any trinket when it bore the Maou's name?"

"I guess not."

"Gunter double-checks and triple-checks all gifts for appropriateness."

"Did he do that for this present?"

"Of course not!! What are you stupid?" Wolfram stamped past Yuuri in a huff.

They arrived at the last pond where an elegant black fish swam around swishing its long tail. Yuuri was not surprised to see his ever-present bodyguard waiting for them.

"Welcome back, Your Majesty."

"Yuuri, Conrad."

"Welcome back, Yuuri."

"Glad to be back."

"Are you here to see Gunter's present?"

"Yes, we just saw the blue one and the green one. I even got to swim with the blue fish for a little bit," Yuuri laughed awkwardly.

"Oh?" Conrad made it sound like he knew exactly how Yuuri ended up swimming with the fish.

"Not on purpose." Yuuri sat on his haunches with his hand on his chin to watch the midnight fish flitter around with no care in the world. Greta copied him.

"There's Wisc and Wart...dare I ask the name of this fish?"

Greta's vain attempt to suppress a giggle and Wolfram's stubborn silence confirmed his worst suspicion. He can feel Conrad giving his trademark smile behind him. It was the bodyguard that answered.

"Well, Your Maj... Yuuri, it's rather long. Let me see if I can remember it correctly. The name is 'The Royal Black Fish, that is a symbol of His Majesty's regard, the 27th Maou of Shin Makoku Shibuya Yuuri Harajuku Fuuri, whose grace and wisdom knows no rival, who vanquished Soushou and freed the great, powerful, wise and courageous founder Shinou, and who, let it not be left unsaid, united humans and Mazoku and led them to a new golden age of peace and prosperity, to his devoted yet humble servant, Gunter von Christ, for his dedication and love'."

"...a bit long and convoluted, don't you think?"

"We don't call it that, Yuuri, it's got a nickname," Greta said, happy to supply the information. Wolfram snickered.

"I highly doubt Gunter calls it by that!" Yuuri growled at Wolfram.

"You're quite right, Your Majesty. Gunter calls it 'Darling'," Conrad informed him.

"Eeeep..." Yuuri stood up quickly distancing himself from the black fish as if it will distance him from the images that came with that information. He pointed his finger at Wolfram's chest and said, "I guess I should be thankful _you_ don't call me that."

Wolfram cheeks reddened and suddenly felt the need to brush all the forgotten dirt on his and Greta's clothes.

"Well, Your Majesty..."

"Yuuri, Conrad."

"...Yuuri, we should head back to the castle. Gwendal wants to see you as soon as possible."

"Ok... though it was nice to spend a few minutes here and play with the fish. Thank you very much Greta, you've done a wonderful job. It sounded like one big adventure... I wish I could have done it all with you. Though no more trips searching for free love. Not until you're older. Actually, not even then... I didn't know one gift can take so much thought and work. Practically everyone in the castle got involved, huh?" Yuuri paused, collected himself and said "...sorry, Wolf, about earlier. I didn't mean..."

"Sometimes I don't know which you doubt, my abilities or my devotion." Wolfram mumbled in a low voice.

"Neither!!" Yuuri was surprised by the vehemence in his own voice but somehow deep down in the recesses of his subconscious, where it will stay for all eternity if baseball-loving, straight and complete opposite of gay Shibuya Yuuri Harajuku Fuuri had anything to say about it, he had a feeling that the day he started doubting Wolfram would be the day he started sliding on the slippery slope of self-doubt; he'd be lost without Wolfram. Wow, this greenhouse is really enormous, Yuuri thought.

"Well, I guess we should get going Conrad. It feels like it's going to be a very long day."

"See you later, Wimp."

"I'm not a wimp."

"I wasn't talking to you."

"Oh. Sorry."

"Bye Wimp. I'll come back and bring you a snack later," Greta called out to the fish.

"I don't know if I'll get used to that," Yuuri said sourly.

"Would 'Darling' be better?" Conrad chuckled suggestively.

"No thanks!!" Yuuri exclaimed.

As they approached the door to the greenhouse, Yuuri turned to see if Wolfram and Greta were following and was surprised to see them sitting down at the picnic blanket.

"Aren't you two coming?"

"No," answered Wolfram. "We'll finish our picnic and clean up over here. You'll need to bathe and change anyway and then Gwendal will debrief you. That'll take a while. My presence won't be needed but I'll be there later."

Yuuri nodded. And as they left, Yuuri asked Conrad why the three fish weren't in one pond. "They look lonely by themselves."

"They're solitary creatures, they'd fight and kill each other if they are kept in the same pond. That's why pet merchants never carry more than three or four, they don't have the space for all those tanks. And its why it was so difficult to find those three."

Then they heard Yuuri utter a long 'ooohhh'.

"Wimp." Wolfram muttered under his breath. And smiled.


	3. Arrival Gate: 2 Blood Pledge Courtyard

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Maruma franchise.

Spoilers: up to episode 94.

A/N: This is my first fanfic so comments and criticisms are welcome.

Thank you for the comments. I'm not sure how regular this will be. It'll be around fifteen chapters. I've got the next one mostly written and another chapter way down the line halfway done (it's a funny chapter and couldn't get it out of my head).

* * *

**Arrival Gate: 2 - Blood Pledge Castle Courtyard**

_There was the time when Yuuri appeared in the fountain in the front courtyard as Wolfram was about to ride out on border patrols._

The horses were standing around bored in the courtyard while several blue uniforms with red trim and one white uniform with purple trim darted here and there checking to make sure all the bags and the tents and the medical equipment and the various other odds and ends were securely fastened.

Wolfram was checking the contents of his own saddlebags. It wouldn't do to forget something as basic as his bedroll on a two week tour like this one.

"...and try not to spend so much time in Anissina's lab," Wolfram continued his sermon to Greta. "I am not sure if she is such a good influence..." Wolfram shuddered at the sudden thought of a full-grown Greta chasing him for his Maryoku.

"...and definitely don't go on any of Mother's search for true love trips."

"I know. I'm too young to go still. But when I'm sixteen..."

"NO! Not even then. You are never allowed to go on such trips...ever."

"When I'm eighteen?"

"No!"

"Twenty?"

"No! My little girl will never go..."

"Don't worry Wolfram, I'll be an independent single woman. Like Anissina."

Greta gave him an impish smile and ran skipping towards the fountain. Wolfram left his horse and followed her all the while mourning the lack of good female role models for his young daughter. Between his mother and Anissina and the gossipy maids, he almost changed his mind about bringing Greta on patrol with him. Gisela is not half bad but she was leaving with Wolfram. He can't really ask her to stay on such a foolish whim especially since he's the one escorting her on the trip and not the other way around.

Yuuri should have been a girl. No. That won't do. The wimp was full of his own bad habits. Wolfram almost wished _he'd_ been born a girl. That would have certainly solved more than one problem.

But Wolfram liked being a man. He liked pissing standing up. He liked being physically stronger. He liked not having jiggly things on his chest that get in the way of running and jumping. He liked not having the need to talk about 'feelings'. He liked not having leaky eyes, never mind that one time in his adult life that he actually wept, and openly at that, and in public to boot. He liked not having mood swings.

He stared at the water imagining Yuuri responding back, "...but Wolf, you do have mood swings."

Then he heard Yuuri add, "Hi Wolfram. How's it going?"

Wait. Heard?

After a rather girlish "gyahhh", a couple of unintended steps backwards and windmilling arms, Wolfram found himself on his rear on the ground staring up at a wet and grinning Yuuri.

"What the hell are you doing here?!" Wolfram yelled at him.

"What do you mean what am I doing here. I live here."

"I know you live here!"

"Then why are you asking me such a stupid question?"

"What are you doing here _now_, wimp?"

"What kind of a welcome is that?"

"You just left yesterday. You're not supposed to be back for another two weeks."

"No, Wolfram. I've been gone for two weeks already."

"No, wimp. You left yesterday."

"Hi, Yuuri. Welcome back," Greta interrupted smiling at Yuuri and waving her little hand.

"What? No hugs? I've been gone so long. My daughter doesn't miss me anymore? She's grown up so fast. Soon she'll be leaving the nest..."

Greta gave him a hug and Yuuri smiled happily. Aaaahhh... it's good to be home.

"You've only been gone one day." Wolfram was dusting himself off, still very much irritated by the embarrassing stumble caused by the sudden appearance of his king and fiancé.

"Are you sure about that? I spent two weeks back on Earth and usually that would equate to around a month here."

"Do you think I'm so incompetent that I can't tell the difference between a day ago and a fortnight ago? Apparently you can't, but don't superimpose your shortcomings on me."

"Well, I'm happy to see you too Wolfram."

"You _have_ been gone only one day, Yuuri," Greta added emphatically.

"That is really strange. It usually doesn't happen backwards like that. Usually more time passes here."

"Yuuri, you really need to fix that..." Wolfram began.

"...I know." Yuuri didn't need Wolfram to remind him. He had a bit of a bad feeling about the time difference but he didn't want to think about it right then. He had just gotten back after two weeks of studying and testing, two weeks of his Mom's scary interest in his so-called love life, but worst of all, two weeks of pure and unadulterated Shori. And not once was he able to play baseball! He was exhausted. He was brain dead. He needed fun and relaxation dammit.

"Hey Greta, I got you a present. Here."

"Oh! What is it! What is it!"

"A couple of dresses that Mom picked out." Greta's eyes bulged out of their sockets and her mouth opened wide in excitement.

"Can I try them on now?" Before Yuuri could even finish answering, Greta ran off with the package leaving Yuuri open-mouthed and forlorn.

Yuuri sighed. She was growing up way too quickly for his own liking.

"Two weeks gone and she wants to spend time with the dresses more than me."

"You only left yesterday!!"

"I wish you would quit saying that."

"Well, until the synapses in your brain connect to get that idea across..."

"Where did you learn about synapses?"

"On Earth! What, you think that when I'm there that I just sit around and pine for you the whole day while you're at school?"

Well, actually, Yuuri _did_ think that. That is apart from the time that he was sure Wolfram and his Mom spent talking and planning his whole wedding. He shuddered at the sudden thought of wedding dresses.

"Here, I got this for you." He shoved a container onto Wolfram's chest. "I ran all the way from Starbucks to the house so that it will still be somewhat cold. If I knew you were going to be difficult when I got here, I would have taken my time."

Wolfram looked at the odd container taking it from Yuuri while trying to hide the evidence of joy that threatened to break on his lips. Yuuri got him a present. Yay. He studied it a bit turning it this way and that. It was green and metallic and made of something like glass but not quite.

"Here," Yuuri took it and showed him how to open it. "It's that drink that you liked so much."

"The latte-thing-a-ma..." Wolfram's cheeks blushed with happiness.

Yuuri was just about to admire the beautiful effect of his gift on the blond boy, how the light smile and the slight reddening of the porcelain cheeks and the way the sun hit his golden hair really made him looked like an angel, Yuuri could almost hear an aria being sung in the background, when suddenly the air from his lungs was painfully squished out and he was smothered in a very strong Gunter-sized hug. Part of Gunter's lovely lavender-tinted silver hair made it into Yuuri's mouth along with part of Gunter's lovely white cloak.

"See... thwis waws what wai was twalkwing abwout when wai swaiwd homecwomwing."

"Oh...Your Majesty, you're back already. You must have missed your trusted advisor so much that you could not keep away longer than a day. I had lessons planned for the next two weeks with the princess, but now that Your Majesty is back I'll change my schedule so that we can spend as many wonderful hours together as possible."

Gunter was ecstatic. Life is bliss. "I woke up this morning with the dreadful knowledge that I would be spending the next two weeks without that magnificent black hair and those magnificent black eyes gracing my vision. But His Majesty the 27th Maou with his wisdom and courage had returned almost immediately. It must portend some very auspicious events in our future."

While Gunter was getting carried away with these romantic thoughts, Yuuri had quickly changed his mind on the type of homecoming he'd like and spent several minutes trying to escape Gunter's uber-crazy devotion.

"...Wolf...some...help...here..." gasped Yuuri, though he wasn't getting any help from the boy who had sworn time and time again that he would always be there to save him.

Wolfram was just standing there in his own little world, too happy sipping the latte that his beloved fiancé had thoughtfully brought for him all the way from another world that he couldn't be bothered to lift a finger to help extract the struggling and much-abused king from the grasps of the overgrown fanboy.

It was Gwendal's exclamation that finally freed the Maou from Gunter's death grip.

"Didn't you just leave yesterday?!" glowered the ever-frowning man. "What are you doing back so soon?!"

"Ha-ha-ha... Hello Gwendal." Yuuri said sheepishly as he put the big towel that found its way in his hands around his shoulders.

"His Majesty has found it unbearable to be away from me so..."

"I guess it's good you decided to come back quickly, we've got a lot of paperwork waiting."

"...that he had to come back to his beloved advisor. Since his presence is unplanned for these next two weeks, perhaps His Majesty and I can spend time discovering.."

"Gunter will be busy the next two weeks with his planned lessons with Greta so you'll be spending all day everyday with me. She needs a lot of catching up to do because a certain king keeps pulling her out of her lessons."

"...Nooooo... can't the selfish loafer do that." Wolfram looked up when he heard Gunter's nasal whine.

"Gunter, I'll be away for the next two weeks. Honestly, he comes back and your brain turns to mush."

"Shouldn't you have been back from that trip already? You were supposed to go while I was back on Earth."

"You've been gone one day, wimp. How am I suppose to be back from a two week trip in one day. What part of..."

"Your Majesty, welcome back."

"...you just..."

"It's Yuuri, Conrad. You named me. And you're a bit late."

"...left yesterday don't..."

"Well, Yuuri, we weren't really expecting you quite so soon. You just left yesterday."

"...you understand?" Wolfram was clearly being ignored.

"Really? No one told me." Yuuri gave Conrad a fake innocent look.

"Well, that's rather surprising that no one mentioned it, but it's nice to have you back." See, Conrad understood sarcasm. They had a connection. Not like him and his fiancé...

"Hey, where are you going?" Yuuri yelled at the receding back of his errant fiancé.

"I'm leaving. Border patrol. Gisela. Remember? Honestly!" Wolfram said indignantly while slurping his drink.

"Wait, I'm coming with you!"

"WHAT!!" everyone within earshot seemed to cry out aghast at what Yuuri uttered as if it was the worst blasphemy ever to be heard in the whole history of blasphemies. Even the horses whinnied in shock.

"I said I was going with Wolfram and them... I just need to get changed, have someone saddle Ao," Yuuri said to no one in particular.

"I'll only be a few minutes if you're ready to go," he called out to Wolfram.

No one did anything. Instead everyone stood there just staring at him as if he were an alien who just beamed from outer space and they were deciding whether or not he was harmless.

"No." Wolfram said flatly. He turned around and continued finishing his last minute preparations and ignored Yuuri as he continued to blubber.

"What do you mean I can't..."

"Your Majesty, you have your own duties to perform here," said Gwendal, face immovable except for the frown between his brows.

"But I'm not even supposed to be here...yet," Yuuri whined as if that statement alone would be able to fix everything that was wrong in the world.

"If someone wouldn't be so remiss in actually completing their paperwork, he wouldn't have so much waiting for him even with just one day's absence. Conrart, bring him to my study once he finishes his goodbyes and gets out of his wet clothes."

"But I finished as much as possible yesterday before I left," he shot at the departing Gwendal. "I was signing papers even as I stepped in the fountain. This is just unfair!"

"Your Maj.. Yuuri," Conrad stated gently. "Shin Makoku is fairly safe but they are going to the border villages and some of them are still a bit unstable. It's one of the reasons why Gisela is going now inspecting the medical tents. We need to make sure the villages are prepared in case of any attacks. I think we will all feel better if you stayed here."

Yuuri wasn't sure why Conrad was playing Captain Obvious. Yes, he understood the borders were not stable yet. Yes, he somewhat remembered some of the details of the trip. And yes, he kind of remembered some of the reason behind it. Well, if it's so dangerous...

"Fine!" Yuuri said, arms crossed and pouting, "...but if I'm not going, Wolfram isn't going either."

"WHAT!!" they cried.

"If it's too dangerous for me, then it's too dangerous for him."

"Yuuri, my brother may be about your age physically but he's been a soldier longer than you have been alive. This is not anything that he cannot handle," Conrad said trying to placate the stubborn king. "Plus, you know he's been doing these patrols even after you've become Maou."

Again with Captain Obvious. Did Conrad really have to talk to him like a child? Yes, he knew that Wolfram is a soldier. Yes, he knew Wolfram went on patrols. But they had never lasted this long and he usually went while Yuuri was on Earth. Two weeks on patrol seemed overly long.

"Still, it just seems unfair Conrad. He gets to go on a two week whirlwind trip with a beautiful soldier nurse, the dream of every teenage boy, while I get stuck behind a mountain of paperwork with Mr. Permafrown."

Conrad laughed.

"Are you envious or are you jealous?" he asked in a rather suggestive manner.

"Oh my," cried Gunter slapping his hand over his mouth, "I am not quite sure what the proper reaction to that would be. On one hand, no matter how bratty and selfish Wolfram is, his devotion to his majesty is unquestionable and would never forsake their engagement. I feel I should reassure His Majesty of that. But then my daughter would never take actions against His Majesty, that her honor should even be questioned, I feel insulted for her sake that such a suggestion would even be considered. But then I feel some pleasure with the idea of Gisela making such a favorable match, they would have the most divinely beautiful children. But then Wolfram _is_ a brat and a selfish loafer, he would be a terrible, if not the worst, son-in-law in Shin Makoku. I would probably die young from the stress. But then if they do marry, His Majesty will be free to run away with me and elope and I wouldn't mind dying young if the rest of my short life is spent...(gluh)...such a beautiful body...ohhhhhhh...," Gunter's nose bled profusely at the indecent thoughts and promptly fainted.

"Envious, Conrad. How can you even ask? We're both guys. It just feels wrong that he gets to have fun without me."

Yuuri was not giving up. Gwendal may have thought he won, but Yuuri still had one card up his sleeve. It was his trump card -- Wolfram could never say 'no' to him. He wavered for a second, perhaps it wouldn't be fair to use that, but then Wolfram was being a jerk and that decided it. Yuuri walked up to the blond soldier hiding the mischievous and almost evil smile.

"Hey, Wolf!"

"Did you finish your whining already, wimp?" asked Wolfram as he turned around. He stopped when he looked up at Yuuri and he saw _that_ look on Yuuri's face. It was that adorable look that brook no refusal from Wolfram. Oh no, Wolfram thought. No. No. No.

"No, Yuuri, please don't ask." Wolfram pleaded softly. Please. Please. Please. If there were any gods on heaven or earth, other than Shinou of course, they would take pity on Wolfram and Yuuri would not ask. Wolfram had very low tolerance for Yuuri's puppy eyes.

"Wolf..." started Yuuri solemnly but he never had the chance to finish.

It was Gisela that rescued Wolfram. She had no time for this. She already wasted some efforts reviving her father, she was not going to spend the next two weeks babysitting a king, no matter how nice and sweet he is.

"Your Majesty, if I may have your permission to speak bluntly, I was the one who asked specifically for His Excellency's assistance. And it's not only his protection that I need. I need his medical and administrative experience. He's a healer tutored by Suzanna Julia von Wincott and knows my methods well. I cannot complete this project by myself. And no, you cannot help, Your Majesty. And I would prefer that you not come. His Excellency will not have any time to play and worrying about protecting you will only delay our efforts. Also, you do not have much experience as a healer so you wouldn't be much help anyway."

Yuuri couldn't find an argument against any of that. Besides he was a bit unnerved by Gisela's manner. Though slightly mollified, he had one last thing to say, "Ok, Wolf, you win. But take Conrad with you."

"WHAT!!"

Seriously, do they practice with the shocked reactions when he's not in Shin Makoku? It's just too eerie how they all say it at the same time.

"Do you not trust that I can take care of myself even within the borders of Shin Makoku?!" Wolfram asked staring into Yuuri's dark eyes.

"It's not that Wolfram..." How could he make him understand. He knew this worry was unreasonable. So he didn't even try to reason. But looking into those green eyes that reminded him of the bottom of a lake, the fear of not seeing them again, he felt a hurt, a constriction somewhere. Yuuri could not let it go. He knew he was being stubborn about it whatever _it_ was. That same stubbornness that had colored his otherwise mediocre personality was not about to give up.

"Don't worry, Your Majesty," Conrad said calmly, "Wolfram will be well protected. His personal guard has some of the strongest majutsu in the army. Adelbert has also loaned Keenan to Gisela for this trip so they'll have protection from houjutsu users."

Yuuri nodded, remembering the encounter between he, Wolfram and Adelbert which seemed like an eternity ago; there had been a fatal flaw in Wolfram's preparations. The memory did nothing to reassure him. He knew Wolfram could take care of himself, had he not been taking care of Yuuri and Greta all this time? And Yuuri had even admitted that the Mazoku prince had morphed from a little lord brat to a handsome capable man...but still...

"It's just so I don't worry, Wolf."

"I don't need you to worry about me."

"Whether I need to or not, I still do."

"If I take Conrart then _I'll_ worry about you. Quit being such a spoiled brat!"

"Now don't you start that..."

"Your Majesty," interrupted Gisela. "We are leaving _without_ His Excellency Lord Weller. Having two anxious men worrying about His Majesty not only will slow us down but I cannot imagine getting any work done if His Excellency Lord von Bielefeld cannot concentrate."

Yuuri was defeated.

Still, it was hard to let go so the words spilled from his mouth unbidden. "Promise me...promise me Wolf...keep yourself safe."

Wolfram found it hard to keep staring at Yuuri so he looked away, his eyes darting seemingly everywhere until they settled on the almost empty Starbucks container he was holding. He shoved it at Yuuri and said, "Here. Thank you for bringing it for me. Promise to fill it with something equally delicious for when I come back."

He got on his horse and signaled his troops. Then he looked back at Yuuri and said in a loud voice, "and you'd better not cheat on me while I'm gone. Even though I'm not here, I'll know right away. If I have to come here to fend off another girl, you'll wish you'd never seen a fountain in your life. And keep away from all long haired rulers, I don't trust any of them."

Yuuri gave a nervous laugh trying not to think of what his punishment could be if Wolfram deemed he was cheating. Yuuri knew all too well that the former Mazoku prince tracked his every movement. It frightened him... and yet oddly it comforted him.

"Goodbye Gisela. Goodbye everyone. Take care," Yuuri yelled at the departing party.

He sighed drinking the last bit of the latte as the party disappeared behind the gates. Then he turned to Conrad and asked, "Any suggestions on how to escape Gwendal for the rest of the day?"


	4. Arrival Gate: 3 Library

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Maruma**  
**

**Author's Notes:**This thing turned out to be longer (twice as long as the other chapters, over 8000 words) and more stubborn than expected, I've had a tough time wrestling it into submission - had to do almost a complete rewrite before I was happy with it. And every time I read it, I find something that needs tweaking. _Please comment, I wait with baited breath for your feedback and criticisms._

To 001anonymous who asked why Wolfram and Greta went to such lengths to get the three fish, there are two reasons: 1. Wolfram, being a good parent, recognized the chance to spend a lot of time with Greta having fun and learning stuff (make learning fun, I mean) and 2. Wolfram does nothing half-assed :-) - he's such a passionate and obsessive person.

* * *

**Arrival Gate: 3 - Library**

_There was the time when Yuuri appeared through a vase in the library while Wolfram and Greta were studying._

Wolfram was frustrated.

He took a book from the shelf and leafed through it. Nothing. He put the book back and took another one. Again, nothing. He took another one. There was a little bit on the subject he was researching so he placed it with the other ones he had picked so far.

Wolfram was frustrated. If frustration could be contained in bushels, then Wolfram would fill a market full of it. He'd flood all the Shin Makoku markets with bushels of frustration, increasing the supply, decreasing the demand and driving the price down.

He took the books and walked to the table where Greta was busy writing. He placed them on the table with a loud thunk. Greta ignored him. She was used to it by now. It was his way of dealing with frustration.

Because clearly, Wolfram was frustrated. If frustration was a beauty pageant, Wolfram would have been crowned queen.

He sat down and read through the pertinent sections of each book. It did not take long. There wasn't much. He wrote all the information down in his neat handwriting in one of his blue notebooks. After he finished, he took the books and placed them on a table nearby with a note, "Please reshelve." He usually returned his borrowed books, but he was frustrated.

No question about it, Wolfram was very frustrated. If frustration was Maryoku, he would be able to easily out-Maou Yuuri. In human territory. On a rocking ship. Surrounded by esoteric stones. Blindfolded with one hand tied behind his back.

He picked up a well-worn book that was sitting on top of Greta's map. The map immediately curled on one corner.

"This has been the most promising so far," he muttered as he flipped through it until he got to the back of the book.

Greta kept ignoring him. She was not frustrated. She was dedicated. This was the big difference between men and women. It was unfortunate that both her parents were men, but thankfully, she had been born a woman. She ignored her father and diligently went about her work.

"I think we have a few of the books referenced here." Wolfram paced up and down the main aisle chewing the bottom of his lip.

As he passed a heretofore benign flower vase sitting on a quiet pedestal at the end of an unassuming bookshelf, there was a loud crash and suddenly Wolfram found himself even more frustrated. And wet in some parts. And on the floor. Kissing the cold tiles. Bits of ceramic in his hair. And one flower. With something very heavy sitting on his back.

The something very heavy sitting on his back shifted and laughed nervously. Then it sputtered, "Uh...hi...Wolfram...um...I'm home."

Wolfram seethed.

Greta seeing one wet father sitting on top of one frustrated father, quickly took action. She grabbed the book from Wolfram's outstretched hand, saw that some water and a couple of flowers got on it, took her handkerchief out and started cleaning it off. Whew! That was close, she thought.

"Hi Yuuri, welcome home," she greeted her newly arrived parent with a big smile and a little wave. "Is it okay if I hug you later when you're drier?"

Yuuri pouted a little and started his speech, about how his daughter was growing up too quickly and how she was going to get married and have three kids and forget her fathers and how he's decided that from now on, she's never allowed to accompany the ex-Maou on any of her trips, when Wolfram finally found his voice amongst his frustrations.

"What the hell are you doing, WIMP!!"

Yuuri was forced out of his comfortable seat and found himself looking into a pair of very angry, very green eyes. They were the color of the jungle in the middle of a typhoon.

The death grip on his collar constricted his breathing and it was with some effort before he could get the words out, "...Wolfram...sorry...I...guess...I...landed...on...you."

"You landed on me?!"

Yuuri breathed a little easier as Wolfram took one of his hands off Yuuri's shirt. Unfortunately for Yuuri, this hand formed a fist on top of his head.

"You landed on me!" Wolfram repeated.

_Ow. _The fist connected with the top of Yuuri's head.

"There are scores of other water receptacles all over the castle and you land on me?"

_Ow. _Yozak had one time amusingly called them 'love taps'.

"Do I look like some kind of landing strip to you?"

_Ow, _Yuuri silently cursed the spy, wishing someday that Yozak would be at the receiving end of Wolfram's violence.

"Do you take some kind of perverse pleasure on doing this to me?"

_Ow. See how Miss Biceps would like that._

"Is the Maou's bath so small that you couldn't find it?!"

_Ow. Damn Yozak Gurrier._ "Okay, okay, Wolfram, I said I'm sorry."

"And this teeny tiny vase in the middle of the goddamn library is much more convenient?"

_Ow. _"Calm down already."

"..."

_Ow._

Greta was amused by her parents' argument. She was ecstatic to see Yuuri back and glad to see that her fathers were getting along particularly well. She knew, from what Anissina had taught her, boys do not know how to handle their emotions properly so they show it in other ways. Violent ways. She saw that Anissina was right; it was plain to see that Yuuri was helping Wolfram deal with his frustration.

It was about the eighth or maybe the tenth 'ow' that Conrart showed up followed immediately by Günter followed not so immediately by three maids who stayed back far enough not to be noticed but near enough to get the information they needed to update the Blood Pledge Castle Romance Polls.

"Your Majesty!"

"Wolfram!"

Conrart pulled Wolfram off Yuuri. _Lord Wolfram lost points on the BPCR poll_.

Günter swept the relieved Maou into a very elegant embrace. _Great advantage for Lord Günter, his elegance always wins him points._

Wolfram wrenched Günter from Yuuri; Günter squeaked a rather inelegant "Gyak!" _Oooh, Lord Günter sorry, a couple of points have to be taken off for that squeak._

"Elements of fire. Obey this proud Mazoku..." Wolfram chanted as he glared at Yuuri. _Hmmm... that can go either way. On one hand, Lord Wolfram look totally hot surrounded by flames, on the other hand, setting fire to your beloved is probably not the best way to woo him. It'll have to be discussed later._

Conrart immediately placed himself in front of Yuuri looking all kinds of heroic. _Jackpot, jackpot! Oh Shinou! Yes! Yes! Yes! The maids melted._

_We interrupt this story for a quick look inside the fanmaids' minds: –- not only did Conrart looked like a knight in shining armor with sword drawn ready to give his life, chest or arm for his king, he looked determined, and almost maniacal as if he was ready to strike his own brother down to keep the one very important person alive and well, the dark light of twilight shining behind him, keeping his fearsome face in almost shadows, the wind blowing his brown hair wildly while romantic music reminiscent of Casablanca played in the background._

_Now back to the regularly scheduled programming..._

"Wolfram! Stop this now!" Conrart commanded.

"Don't worry, Conrart, I'll only hurt him a little," Wolfram replied evilly.

"Wolfram, we're in the library! Please don't use Majutsu here," Günter scolded.

"Calm down Wolf," Yuuri pleaded in what he hoped was a soothing tone. "Calling on the elements while you're in the library is not a good idea. Unless you're trying to destroy the library. You might get away with calling the wind elements or the earth elements... though that would still result in irate readers and, most likely, an even more irate librarian. And in the list of very bad things, irate librarians are somewhere near the top."

"Quit your rambling, Yuuri. And quit hiding behind Conrart! Face me like a man."

"You've got fire Majutsu and even though I am not the wisest person in the world, I would say it's never ever a good idea to use that in a library!"

"Oh don't worry about the books, Günter has probably put barriers up already to keep them safe."

Yuuri glanced at Günter and saw that this was true.

"Aw, come on, Wolf. We could at least take this outside."

After a few moments of everyone holding their breath, Wolfram put away his flames. "Fine, let's make it a duel then."

"What?! We don't even have any knives in here, how can you call for a duel?"

"Don't worry, this is just for fun, no need to be so formal. I won't hurt you... much," Wolfram chortled.

Yuuri didn't know where it came from or what prompted it, maybe it was Wolfram's egomania, but he suddenly had a fiendish idea.

"Well... since this is for fun, let's stake something on it."

"You mean like a wager?"

"Yes, if I win, you do everything I tell you without me issuing a royal order. For a month. You will not question, contradict, disagree or complain. Or become violent. You just do what I say. And it could be anything like passing the salt or running thirty laps around the castle."

"Hmmm... It's not like you'd win anyway. Fine, if I win, you grant me one wish."

"What kind of a wager is that? You can't ask for something unknown. How do I know you won't ask for something crazy like all the treasure in the treasury room or evict all humans from Shin Makoku."

"Why would I ask for something like that, wimp?! And don't worry, my wish is not anything that I'm not already entitled to. It's something you can easily grant."

Wolfram was entitled to a lot of things, but Yuuri was feeling invulnerable. "Well... okay... but since you challenged me, I get to pick the type of combat."

"That won't matter. You can even throw in any of your Earth fighting, I'll still win."

The library doors were thrown open and Lady Celi made a sweeping entrance declaring in a loud voice, "If His Majesty Yuuri wins, we'll have a wedding at Blood Pledge Castle!"

"I accept the terms!" Yuuri proclaimed before he could stop himself.

Gasps were uttered all around the room. Conrart shook his head, his smile wavering briefly. Wolfram smirked, "I accept!"

"Eh? Wait a minute. That...that... what she said, what Lady Celi said didn't just become part of the wager, did it?...Conrad?"

"I'm afraid so Your Majesty. You should have clarified before you accepted."

Yuuri slapped his hand over his forehead. "Why do these things happen to me? Who did I piss off in the past life..."

"Don't worry, Your Majesty..." Conrad said thoughtfully.

"It's Yuuri, Conrad. You named me..." Yuuri said tiredly.

"Yuuri, don't worry about the wedding, Mother did not specify whose wedding it is."

Yuuri perked up.

"He he he. You're right Conrad." Yuuri smiled relieved. "What would I do without you?"

"Yuuri, can I also have a wish from you if Wolfram wins?" Greta piped in wearing her irresistible adorable look.

"Greta, you can have a wish whether he wins or not. As long as it is anything that is in my power to grant, my daughter can have any wish. Besides, Wolfram is going to lose this one."

"Wolfie, this is so exciting! We haven't had a wedding consummate at the castle in decades. This time we'll do it perfectly, perhaps we'll use chains at the altar so there's no chances of pulling out. I'll need to check the treasury room, there's a few baubles there that are just dying to be used."

"Mother, don't bother getting the wedding regalia out. Yuuri will not be winning this duel."

"Spoilsport," Celi pouted.

"Considering that His Majesty has won all his duels, I think the chances are favorable on his side," Günter remarked.

"I must agree with you, Günter. What do you think about castle decorations? My black flowers are in full bloom. They would look so elegant in the ballroom, don't you think?"

"Yes, Her Majesty the Queen's flowers are beautiful," Günter agreed. "Yuuri's Justice and Merciful Yuuri are especially doing well. I'd have to say those are my favorites."

"Really? Wolfram doesn't seem to like them as much. He's developing another strain but it seems the experiment is not going so well."

"Mother!" Wolfram exclaimed trying to keep the annoyance out of his voice. "Come on, wimp, let's go! The faster I beat you up, the better."

"We're doing it right now?!"

"I can't think of a better time. Why? Are you afraid, scaredy cat?"

"I'm not scared! But I'd like to get out of these wet clothes first and give my daughter a proper hug. You seem to forget I just arrived," Yuuri said plaintively.

Wolfram did _not_ look like had forgotten. In fact, it looked like the manner of Yuuri's arrival is still topmost in his mind as he gave Yuuri the scariest, caustic look ever known to grace the face of a shoujo manga style bishonen. A nervously grimacing Yuuri put his hands up in front of him warding off any attack. Wolfram didn't even deign to give him a 'hmph' as he turned for the door and left.

"Well, Conrart my dear, have you met any nice girls lately?" Lady Celi inquired in a seductive voice.

"I've met plenty of nice girls, Mother." Conrart smiled enigmatically.

"And none of them are marriageable? Or do they not want to marry you? But that's not possible, you have the very look of your father, and he's such a sexy man. Women should be falling all over the place to wed you. What about Gisela? She's a pleasant girl, a bit strict sometimes, but you're very close and you've known each other for a while. Or perhaps you should marry Yozak, he would look lovely in a wedding dress."

"You are right Mother, Yozak would look stunning in a wedding dress. But I don't think Gisela has any interest in me in that way."

"Pity. Perhaps Anissina then. But we should probably save her for Gwendal." Somewhere in the castle a very stern man sneezed. "Unless Gwendal wants to marry you, Günter."

"I'm afraid to disappoint you, Your Majesty," Günter answered the former queen, "but I have seen no indication from Gwendal of any intentions to marry anyone. I think he intends to stay a bachelor for as long as he possibly can."

"Sometimes I lose hope for that child. I'm not quite sure if he has his priorities straight. At times, I think he still believes babies are delivered by the Kotsuhizoku. Perhaps I'll take him with me on my next trip. Unless you want to go Conrart, or maybe I should take Wolfram instead. Ah, but His Majesty Yuuri will probably not let him go."

"Lady Celi, this may be a weird question, but why are you so interested in getting your sons to marry?" Yuuri asked, his mother had the same bothersome obsession. "They seem to be all doing fine as I see. Maybe it's because I'm a boy and girls like romance and stuff... but in my opinion, I don't think any of them has an immediate need for a wife."

"Well, someone needs to take care of them and I'm not always here nor will I always be here."

"But they take care of each other. And I take care of them. Probably not as much as they care of me."

"Yes, you are right. But the dedication of a spouse is different after all. And I'm their mother, so naturally I worry. That's what parents do."

Yuuri looked at Greta thoughtfully.

"Don't worry Yuuri, I'm not getting married yet," Greta chimed unhelpfully.

Yuuri smiled at his beautiful daughter. It was good to be home. "Well Greta, I'm going to get dressed and I'll be back to get my welcome hug ok?"

"I'll be here."

* * *

"Look, I'm not saying that you don't look good in it. I just prefer the outfit with the black shirt alone without the jacket. The big white bow just seem so... girlish." Yuuri said as he and Wolfram walked through a corridor later that afternoon.

"Are you saying I look like a girl?"

"Of course not! I would never say that," Yuuri exclaimed while thinking, _I value my life too much to say anything like that._

"I just wonder why you like having things around your neck—line—area—ish," Yuuri continued, waving a circle around his neck and upper chest. "You're always wearing cravats..."

"They're part of my uniform," Wolfram said simply.

"...but you also wear them with casual clothes along with scarves and bows and brooches. Even if it's just a small bow. I mean even your plain peach nightgown has a little bow. And when you visited Earth, you wore neckties."

"Mother Jennifer said it was part of the suit."

"But you didn't have to wear it with a T-shirt. Ties are supposed to be worn only with dress shirts that have collars, like I told you when we were there. You're not suppose to wear them with plain ordinary T-shirts."

"Yeah, well, what about that guy on the picture on the cover of that floppy book? And all those girls that were pointing those, what did you call them, mobile something. You said they were taking my portrait. They all seemed to think it looked good."

"Wolfram, you'd look gorgeous in a plain brown sack, they weren't taking your picture because of the silly little tie. Besides those girls' opinions and opinions in girly magazines don't count."

"How come? You're the cheater who's always trying to impress girls - though there's no need for you to try since you're already cute... I don't even know why I'm wearing this. I should have enough clean uniforms, who gave the maids the idea to bring this instead. I really should change into my uniform, I'm still on duty."

"Wolf, you're always on duty. Even when you're asleep. Just leave it on. I like you in that black shirt, not so much the bow, but let's leave that for now. I'd like to get this duel over with and have my own personal Wolfram slave."

"Why Yuuri, I didn't know you were so perverted," Wolfram sniggered.

"Not funny. I'm just thinking of bringing you to Earth and making you do all my house chores."

Both Yuuri and Wolfram stopped in their tracks and stood dumbfounded in surprise when they arrived at the end of the corridor and stared out into the courtyard.

All in all, it was not as large or crazy as the "Whack the Sandbear" event at Yuuri's sixteenth birthday. There was a rectangular field the size of a basketball court marked by green velvet rope and punctuated by large, green, glassy balls. Green banners were hung over poles overlooking the arena. On one long side is an opening where they were currently standing and on the other side is what Yuuri like to think as the boxseat. There sat Lady Celi in an ornate chair with a tall back surrounded by Greta, Conrart, and Anissina. Gwendal was sitting on a bicycle looking contraption and was currently pedaling. Scores of spectators sat on benches or stood outside the green velvet rope. In the middle of the field was a simple wooden table and two stools.

"Wow. I think Günter outdid himself," Wolfram commented, quietly astonished.

"Where did he get all this...stuff. And where did he get all those people from?"

"I think Mother came home with all those decorative items. She said that merchant from Dai Shimeron Stefan Fanbalen, the one she calls Fanfan, had an overstock of castle decorations because they didn't sell well in Sverela... It looks like all the castle residents are here, I don't know where the rest came from, probably town."

"He did all this in less than two hours?!"

"Your Majesty," Günter gushed as he approached them, "I am so grateful for being given the chance to organize this little celebration for your homecoming. I know it's not much, but considering the time limit..."

"No, Günter, I think you've more than exceeded my expectations," Yuuri said still awed with all the pageantry.

"You are too kind Your Majesty. And so wise for coming up with the idea of boosting the people's morale through games and sports. Not to mention that I'll have a whole wedding to prepare after Your Majesty's victory. I can imagine His Majesty looking so divine in his wedding clothes." Günter sparkled, then remembered something and gave Wolfram a scornful look before leading them to the table in the middle of the dueling area.

"Günter, you don't need to be planning my wedding so soon," Yuuri grumbled but the tall man paid him no heed.

"Yuuri, what's this about games and sports. I thought we're just having a friendly duel."

"Well, actually, I thought we'd do best two out of three. Here."

Wolfram read the piece of paper that Yuuri handed him and snorted, "I see that you tried to have as much advantage as possible."

"Hey, the third event is sword fighting, you can't argue that I have the advantage there," Yuuri countered. Granted he included it for the sole purpose of mollifying the blond. Yuuri was going to win the first two so the third didn't really matter.

"No matter," Wolfram replied, "I'll still win this."

"Your overconfidence is going to get you in trouble someday."

"Your wimpiness gets you in trouble everyday."

"I think that will be the first thing I command you once I win. Call me wimp as many times now because you won't be able to say it for a whole month."

"I doubt that."

"Yuuri! Wolfram! Do your best!" Greta waved. "Wolfram make sure to win!"

"Your Majesty, good luck!" Celi cheered. "Wolfram be sure to lose so I can see you wearing black every day. That blue uniform is getting a bit boring."

"Why Greta?... Do you prefer Wolfram to..."

"Mother! I am not going to throw this duel! And I'm not going to stop wearing my uniform because I'm not going to..."

"...me? Am I not a good father? Perhaps I spend too much time away from my daughter, but still... why?!"

"...stop being a soldier even after Yuuri and I are married! And stop telling the maids to bring me casual clothing when I'm on duty! Honestly!"

Günter tapped on Anissina's Hear-Me-Roar-kun, a machine that looked and acted like a cross between a microphone, a megaphone and an aardvark, and started announcing the events.

The first event was a game of Go, a game Wolfram never played and was unfamiliar with. Yuuri was a mediocre player, but he was confident that he can beat a novice. And if he played his cards right, Wolfram would insist on not having a practice game. Yuuri was not a great manipulator, or even a decent one. He left all that to his advisors. But one thing Yuuri understood was Wolfram's pride.

After explaining the object of the game, the moves, the rules and the most basic strategies, Yuuri said, "I think Go is too complicated for you so I'll explain more slowly while we do a practice match, ok"

"I'm not idiot that can't grasp this simple game. There's no need to practice."

"Ok, but if you have any questions about the rules, just ask."

It was fortunate for Yuuri that Wolfram had taken his bait and opted out of the practice match because he struggled with much effort to win that one game. Yuuri wasn't sure if he could have won a second one. Wolfram might be impulsive most of the time, but he was terrifyingly focused when he wanted something badly. Yuuri wondered briefly what the ex-prince's wish was. He hoped it wasn't _that_.

No matter. One down, one more to go. And the next one was going to be terribly easy.

* * *

They were at the batter's box holding wooden bats, wearing baseball helmets but foregoing baseball uniforms. The crowd that followed them from the castle's courtyard was still cheering loudly. Conrart was at the mound and Dakaskos was at home plate wearing a catcher's gear.

"So explain again, it's hard to hear over them," Wolfram said, a hand waving towards the bleachers.

"All you have to do is hit the ball as far as you can. We measure up to first bounce so try to hit homeruns and not grounders. You get three strikes and we're not counting foul balls as strikes. There's no limit on foul balls and of course no limit on balls."

"Yuuri, speak Mazoku." Wolfram never liked baseball and never tried to learn much about the game.

"Ok, you can only miss the ball three times. You need to hit the ball towards there," Yuuri explained as he swept his hand from first base to third. "And if you hit that way, it doesn't count."

"I understand."

"Now regarding the strike zone."

"I don't need to know that."

"What?! Of course you need to know that."

"Look all I need to do is to hit the ball further than you, right? And I just need to make sure that I need to hit it that way. And I get three tries."

"Well, that sort of summarizes it, but you need to know about balls and strikes and the strike zone."

"No I don't. I just need to hit the ball. That's simple. I don't know why you like to complicate things."

"I don't like to complicate things. You just don't like to listen... Fine, if you feel that way... We'll flip a coin to see who goes first. Call heads or tails."

"Flip a what?"

"Just pick one, heads or tails!!"

"Tails."

Yuuri flipped a coin.

"It's heads. That means I go first. Which is probably a good idea, at least you'll see the correct stance and I don't have to explain."

The first two pitches were foul balls, then a strike but the fourth pitch was a fastball and Yuuri took full advantage of it. He hit a homerun right straight in the middle hitting the Shin Makoku crest on the scoreboard. The crowd stood up and cheered loudly.

Oh yes, that was sweet! Yuuri was getting really good at that. That's the fourth one he's ever hit on that board. The first was on his sixteenth birthday, two were during practice and the most wonderful and extraordinary one is this. Of course, they were all from Conrart's fastballs. But what does it matter. He won. And he gets a quiet, pliant Wolfram for a whole month.

"Don't start celebrating yet, wimp!"

Yuuri kept his triumphant smile and said nothing. There was no way in heaven or hell that Wolfram with his big white bow of doom could beat that.

Wolfram walked to home plate and watched Conrart and Dakaskos toss the ball back and forth until Conrart asked if he was ready. He stepped up to the plate and copied Yuuri's stance as best he could.

Yuuri was grinning from ear to ear. This had been the sweetest homecoming yet... he watched the pitch and heard the crack and suddenly his sweet homecoming turned bitter. The ball seemed to hang in the air for a few eternities as the crowd watch it go straight in the middle past the scoreboard and out the stadium. Then everyone went wild and Yuuri stood there with his mouth open, completely astonished.

_That was one beautiful hit!_ Yuuri admitted to himself. And he remembered for a second how graceful Wolfram looked as he hit the ball. Next thing he knew, his vision was covered by a face full of grinning Wolfram.

* * *

"Are you just toying with me?" Yuuri grumbled as he hit Wolfram's sword.

"No, I just want you to feel good about yourself. And also entertain the audience," Wolfram grinned. "It wouldn't do to end it too quickly, there's no satisfaction in that."

They had been sparring hard for over fifteen minutes. They've both lost their jackets a while ago and were both sweating and breathing hard. Every time that Yuuri thought he was about to lose, Wolfram backed off. What was worse was Wolfram deliberately kept giving him openings which Yuuri took only to be blocked at the last possible moment.

Yuuri was getting frustrated. At first, he thought Wolfram was trying to lose on purpose so that the wagered wedding would take place as the proud Mazoku kept giving him opening after opening. Yuuri permitted himself a bit of enjoyment thinking Wolfram was under the mistaken impression that it was their own wedding that was on the line. But after a while, Yuuri realized that Wolfram was only using him as a literal punching bag for as long as he possibly could.

But Yuuri was not about to give up. Wolfram was a straight pitcher; he repeated the same patterns over and over. Yuuri realized that every time Wolfram gave him an opening only to block it, Wolfram took a second to gloat, grinning mischievously at him before pushing off.

Clink. clink. clink. Two minutes later, Yuuri inadvertently left an opening and Wolfram backed off. Click. clink. clink. There was Wolfram's deliberate opening. Yuuri went for it. Block. Then Yuuri struck again before Wolfram could finish his grin and push off.

Wolfram, however, did not cooperate. Yuuri struck at nothing. The next thing he knew his sword was struck at the hilt with what felt like a hard punch making him lose his sword. A shoulder went into his gut and he hit the ground hard on his rear. All the air in his lungs was pushed out with a loud grunt.

Yuuri looked up at his opponent dumbfounded. He felt something strange stir within him as he watched the third son of the ex-Maou in his black shirt, sweaty and breathing hard, flourish his sword gracefully before sheathing it. Wolfram ran his hand through his hair, walked over to Yuuri and, standing triumphantly over him, grinned like mad, "I win."

Yuuri just stared with his mouth open. He closed his eyes willing for that image to go away. He knew with certainty that it was going to haunt him later in those unwanted pink dreams. He lost the duel. And he felt he was still in the process of losing, losing something entirely different.

"Yuuri," Wolfram said and Yuuri opened his eyes. The blond was holding his hand out.

Yuuri took it and let Wolfram help him up. "Don't be a sore loser."

"I'm not. So what's the wish."

"I'll tell you in private. It's not really something that should be discussed in public," Wolfram smiled warmly.

* * *

"Greta, you're not sleeping in the middle tonight?" Yuuri asked. Greta usually took the middle but there were times when Yuuri or Wolfram did. Not that it mattered what position they start in. Most likely in the morning, Wolfram would be at the foot of the bed hogging all the blankets, Yuuri would be halfway on the floor and Greta would be in the middle of the bed with her small body sprawled taking up as much territory as it possibly could.

"No," Greta yawned and motioned her hand for him to come. She whispered something in his ear and giggled.

"But he won the duel and I lost, so using your logic, I should be in the middle," Yuuri said sulking. But Greta didn't hear him as she had already fallen asleep.

"She gets that from you," Yuuri said accusingly.

"You make it sound like it's a bad thing," Wolfram replied as he crawled under the covers beside Greta.

"How can falling asleep in the middle of a conversation be a good thing?"

"For a soldier, it's a positive thing to be able to fall asleep instantaneously because you never know how much rest you can get at any given time. And I would like my daughter to have as many soldierly skills as possible even if she'll never be one so she can protect herself."

"But Wolf, _we'll_ protect her."

Wolfram was silent and he kept on being silent until Yuuri finally prompted him.

"Wolf..."

"My wish."

"Oh," Yuuri said nervously, "you want to talk about it now?"

"Yes."

Yuuri's heart beat fast. Wolfram wouldn't ask for _that_? Would he? Yuuri was almost relieved that he lost the duel because the wedding talks, even though not necessarily his wedding, had died down and that sort of scary trepidation that wait in corners and dark closets no longer sneaked around waiting to trip him.

Wolfram sat up and faced Yuuri who was standing by the side of the bed.

"Yuuri... we're partners right?" Wolfram said in a very serious tone.

_OH GODS!! _"Well, y-yes we are," Yuuri gulped.

"Come on Yuuri, I'm being serious here."

"I'm not not serious," Yuuri countered not sure if what he said made sense.

Wolfram let out an exasperated sigh, "I'm trying to say this without getting you worried but instead it looks like you went in panic mode."

"...huh..."

Wolfram grabbed Yuuri's arms and shook him slightly. Watching his friend's reactions, he spoke softly and slowly, "Yuuri, quit panicking. I know where your brain has gone and that's not where I'm going. Look, I know you're not ready for that and I will wait for you for however long it takes. I'll always be by your side. As long as you let me. But that is not what I'm asking for... so breath."

Yuuri spent several moments just looking at Wolfram and staring into Wolfram's brilliant green eyes. He thought briefly how the movie never really captured the kind of green that Oz should have had. But no Hollywood company could have captured this kind of green. It was impossible to catch this beauty, package it and sell it to any Tom, Dick and Harry.

"Oh," Yuuri finally managed.

Wolfram released Yuuri, took a deep breath and started again, "We're partners and as partners we do things together and act together. We help each other. And protect each other. And protect our family. Together. Even when I am not with you, I'm still by your side because if anything happens to you, I'll know. And I like to think that you spare a thought for me when I'm not physically with you..."

"...of course I do Wolf..." Yuuri interjected.

"...as partners, we do things as one... but when the other cannot participate as equally as the other, then the other one must fill up the rest so it can be done."

"You lost me there."

"Look, I can help you with being a good king because you lack knowledge and you're wimpy and too trusting for your own good..."

"Well, I wouldn't put it that way..."

Wolfram gave him a look and Yuuri zipped his mouth.

"Yuuri, do I...?"

"You know I rely on you Wolf, I wouldn't know what I would do without you."

"Okay, so I can help you with being a good king... But I cannot help you with your school work. That is something that you have to do all by yourself. And you cannot help me with some of my duties like border patrols so I have to do those all by myself. And we both take care of Greta when we're here. But I do all of it when you're on Earth and you do when I'm away. Separately or not, we fulfill our obligations together."

"Wolfram, I'm not sure where you're going with all this."

"I want your permission to go to Zoratia..."

"Eh? What? You don't need my permission to go there. We'll all go together. If all you wanted was a visit there, we didn't need to go through the whole duel thing and this strangely serious conversation."

"Yuuri, that is not what I'm asking for." Wolfram carefully let his breath out.

"I don't understand."

"I went to Zoratia for a week one of the times that you were on Earth..."

"I never heard of this, how come you didn't tell me?"

"It's not that you were not told, it's that you don't pay attention."

"Oh." Now that he thought about it, Yuuri did remember talking about the rebuilding in Zoratia. He just never connected it with Wolfram going there. He never really put much thought behind information gathering, that was Gwendal's sphere. "Well you should have waited for me."

"You've been there before on state visits, this was pretty much one. But it was not what I wanted. I wanted to go there to gather information, but not for Shin Makoku. I begged Gwendal but he refused to let me go. I had to promise him one week free of Anissina for him to finally agree. And when he did, it wasn't worth it because he made me take Günter and it ended up as another state visit."

"Wait, repeat the part about Anissina."

"I bribed Gwendal to let me go by promising him that I would volunteer as Anissina's test subject so she wouldn't come looking for him. For a week. A whole week. I never want to go through that pain again," Wolfram shuddered.

"That's... that's... well..." Yuuri tried to say something but he didn't know what. Instead he burst out laughing. The thought of Wolfram in Anissina's laboratory being strapped to various machines somehow amused him to no end. But it wasn't just the amusement that made him keep laughing. It was all the nervousness and the seriousness... he needed the release.

A pillow landed hard on his face. Then a couple more. Then one hit hard and caught him at the right angle while he was clutching his stomach so that he ended up on the floor. Yuuri let out a few chuckles interspersed with hiccups.

Wolfram snickered a bit and smiled.

"I'm sorry Wolf."

"It's okay. It is kind of funny," Wolfram admitted as he moved and leaned his back on the headboard.

And they were silent for a few moments as Yuuri tried to catch his breath. Yuuri got up from the floor and sat on the bed facing Wolfram.

"Yuuri, I want your permission to go to Zoratia a week here and there and not necessarily to the capital either. I want to visit some of the villages also. And most likely, I will be scheduling the trips while you're on Earth. If I have your official permission, Gwendal wouldn't be able to deny my requests."

"But Wolfram, why would you want to go there. I understand that it's for Greta. But we already have the best spy network in this world if Gwendal is to be believed. There is no need for you to personally go there. Any information you want, you can just ask Gwendal to get for you. And I'll sign a decree so he won't withhold any."

"Yuuri, I am already getting all that information. But that's not what I need. The information that they gather is for Shin Makoku's use. It's the information that the ruler of Shin Makoku needs to deal with Zoratia effectively as one sovereign state to another. The information I need is for the ruler of Zoratia to effectively deal with his or her subjects. This is why I must go."

"..."

"Look, Yuuri," Wolfram said waiving his hand over Greta. "look at her. She grows so fast that it scares me. It may not be so bad for you because you grew up as a human. But as a Mazoku it terrifies me how fast she grows. I've gathered all the information we have about Zoratia and it's not enough. It's never enough. I've combed through the library so many times, it's frustrating."

Yuuri suddenly remembered all those blue notebooks on Greta's table and how they were filled with Wolfram's elegant handwriting.

"Her strength, her determination," Wolfram continued, "she will never allow us to keep her no matter how much we want to. She'll move out of our protection no matter how much we howl and scream and beg and plead. And no matter how much assistance and friendship Shin Makoku can give her and no matter how strong our family bonds are, she'll rely heavily on her own strength and the strength of those around her. _In her kingdom_. We'll only be able to hold her hand but we won't be able to keep her in our embrace."

Yuuri choked on tears. He did not want to face any of this. Greta was still his little girl and would always be his little girl.

"She's already learned half the materials that I currently have. It's not enough Yuuri. I cannot with good conscience send our daughter to rule over an unstable kingdom with a paltry hodpodge education about her own country. I need to understand the people of Zoratia so I can teach her. It won't erase all the worries," Wolfram laughed without humor, "I'll probably always worry, but I guess that's what parents do."

Thoughts flowed through silence...

Finally, Yuuri said, "Then let's go together."

"No, Yuuri! No. It's not possible for you to do this. So, as your partner, I must do your part along with mine. Do you understand?"

"No, Wolfram. If we are partners then I must do my part, you cannot keep me from my obligations to my daughter."

Wolfram took a deep breath willing himself to be patient. Which was very hard because he really really wanted to smack Yuuri violently right then. He knew this was going to happen.

"Yuuri, I will not go into a long drawn out argument with you. I'm tired and I want to go to sleep. So I'll list all the reasons why that would be a bad idea and then I'll remind you that I won the duel fairly and you will sign that permission anyway."

One more deep breath. Then Wolfram clamped his hand over Yuuri's mouth as it was about to open and spout the nonsense that Wolfram was not in any mood to hear.

"Shut up. Listen."

When Yuuri nodded, he took his hand off.

"But Wolf..."

Wolfram smacked Yuuri with another pillow.

"Okay, okay," Yuuri conceded putting his palms out to ward another attack.

_This must be the night of exasperated sighs_, Wolfram thought as he let out another big sigh.

"Why it's a bad idea for Yuuri the wimpy Maou to come with me his treasured fiancé to Zoratia. One, he's the Maou and needs to concentrate on ruling his own kingdom instead of running around in someone else's kingdom. Two, he already spends a lot of time away from his kingdom to fulfill obligations on Earth. Three, his advisors would never agree anyway and may also stop said treasured fiancé from fulfilling his obligations as father to the cutest girl in Shin Makoku. Four, if the Maou goes gallivanting all over Zoratia, he will bring along with him a bevy of guards and protectors making movement difficult. Five, since he is the ruler of a stronger nation, the Maou really needs to respect Zoratia's autonomy. Six, frequent visits from a foreign ruler may not be seen as friendly or advantageous by the administrators of any kingdom. Seven, it's easier for said treasured fiancé to move around and really get to know Zoratia's people, their culture, their needs if he is not constantly worried about the safety of his beloved Maou. Eight, Zoratia's government will not be overly concerned with the visits of said treasured fiancé as he will be seen mainly as Greta's father due to said fiancé's lack of station and political power except as the Maou's fiancé which isn't really that important."

Wolfram let out a long breath and gave Yuuri that rare soft smile.

"You're not unimportant, you know," Yuuri said quietly.

Wolfram swallowed. How does Yuuri do this to him, turn him inside out with the most ordinary words. He smacked Yuuri with a pillow again.

"Will you stop that!" Yuuri complained. "I get it. I get it. Geez... fine, fine. I'll sign the permission, just one thing..."

"No I will not bring Conrart with me," Wolfram interrupted before Yuuri could finish. "Say one more thing about that and I will smack you again with this pillow."

"Aargh! Wolfram! Sometimes you make me so mad I just want to choke you."

"Funny, that's exactly how I feel about you."

_A gasp. Pupils dilated in shocked silence._

Honest feelings, fearsome thoughts, hot flushed skin, eyes darting everywhere avoiding each other in the chaotic stillness. There are shocking truths that youthful minds shy away from as if the loss of preconceived notions of childhood is a terrifying event to be avoided at all cost. It is only with a certain level of maturity that one understands that the loss of innocence is not something to be mourned but something to be celebrated.

It was Yuuri that broke the silence, "Would you... I just... it would... Wolfram... Please take Hube or Yozak each and every time you go there."

Wolfram replied with much relief, he could deal with pragmatic things. "Agreed. Hube is familiar with the region, his expertise would be invaluable. And Yozak is good to have in any human territory."

"Whew! I'm glad you agreed to that easily," Yuuri said as the world turned back to normal. "Deal."

Wolfram looked at Yuuri's outstretched right hand quizzically.

"It's an Earth thing. You put your right hand in mine and we shake our hands together to symbolize the agreement, the deal."

Wolfram placed his hand tentatively in Yuuri's and Yuuri shook their hands and repeated, "Deal?"

"Deal," Wolfram answered back.

And in one second flat, Wolfram was under the covers snoring, "gu lu gu lu gu..."

Yuuri was still sitting with his hand out which felt suddenly cold without the warm touch of his friend. He put it down and watched his two sleeping companions for a very long time wondering what god judged him good enough to be bequeathed these two beautiful beings.

Greta stirred and lifted her head, "Yuuri?"

"Greta, why are you awake," Yuuri said quietly. "Go back to sleep, it's late. I'll go douse the lamps."

"Not yet, I forgot to ask for my wish."

"We can talk about it tomorrow morning."

Greta shook her head. "Wolfram won so I get to have a wish too."

Seeing that she was not going to go back to sleep until she had her say, Yuuri complied, "Of course Greta. You can have anything you wish for as long as it is within my power to grant."

"Promise?"

"I promise," Yuuri said softly.

"I wish for a wedding to happen this month in the castle," Greta said happily and went promptly back to sleep.

Yuuri pounded his forehead on the soft bed and moaned, "Why do these things happen to me? Who did I piss off in the past life..."


	5. First Layover: The Wedding

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Maruma**  
**

**Author's Notes:** When it comes to being concise, I'm a major FAIL. This is even longer than the previous installment and I've had to cut almost all scenes from the bachelor party. At any rate, let me know if you want to see the party from Yozak's point of view. And again, thank you for the wonderful reviews.

* * *

**FIRST LAYOVER: The Wedding**

"_Come my love I'll tell you a tale  
Of a boy and girl and their love story"_

Perhaps if it had been an ordinary wedding, it wouldn't have been so bad...

But perhaps it would not have mattered in the end. It's not as if anything in Shin Makoku was ever ordinary by Yuuri's standards. Besides, Günter and Anissina waited with barely suppressed anticipation for these types of events to showcase their talents. And additionally, in Anissina's case, gather victims.

Yuuri had prayed for a quiet ceremony with only family and close friends attending. But being a member of the rougher sex, his wishes meant nothing and had been quickly ignored by the castle's female population (and Günter) who seized the wedding idea like mad-crazy goalas and turned it into an outlandish facsimile (according to Yuuri's humble opinion) of the celebration of a sacred union. Did they really need to have all these machines? Most likely no. Did they need to invite half the kingdom? Probably not. Had it really been necessary to spend hours debating the table centerpieces? Is there even a need to ask this question? Yuuri could not remember ever having any slight fascination for centerpieces much less spend hours talking about them. But who was he to question, he was only the Maou - a very male Maou.

Even his sweet little twelve-year old Greta was infected with the insanity. Well, it was actually his sweet little Greta that had initiated and masterminded all this, and it was she, with Anissina's mentoring, who managed (lulled her subordinates into submission using innocent smiles and cheerful energy) and coordinated the whole fiasco. In his head, Yuuri had labeled it as such and he was quite sure that something or many somethings would blow up before the end of the wedding day destroying all or part of the castle and a decent percentage of the town.

It had been one of the most bizarre, frustrating and frightening months that Yuuri had ever spent in Shin Makoku. And that was saying a lot. Yuuri could name scores of less painful torture than what he had been subjected to these past four weeks. Perhaps if he had prayed to the right gods, they would have forgiven his sins and condescended to just let him have athlete's foot for a year as penance. Perhaps if he had prepared burnt offerings, some merciful deity would have made at least one person in the castle see reason – Yuuri's reason, not Shin-Makoku-crazy reason. As it was, the castle residents seemed to have been bitten by the bug of irrationality causing their brains to all take a pleasure cruise somewhere far far away from Shin Makoku.

Günter's hobby of strangling Yuuri with fanatical devotion became a daily habit since the announcement. Being consumed entirely by wedding preparations and discovering that he was lucky to even see the king a few minutes each day, Günter made sure to use those precious minutes wisely by spending them molded tightly to the young body of the 27th Maou. Yuuri, on the other hand, spent a lot of time sneaking around corners, and sending Conrad to peek into rooms first in order to avoid unnecessary run-ins with the tall, silver-haired man. He wasn't sure if he could survive being regularly smothered to within two breaths of his life long enough to be in the wedding.

The Günter entanglements were especially painful and full of wet and salty tears on days when the advisor went toe-to-toe with Anissina regarding some trivial aspect of the festivities, or during delicate negotiations with the head of the family of the wedding celebrant. Not that Günter ever won any battles with Anissina. No one ever did. But there were times when one had to hunker down and try to tell her no. Who wanted to have Here-Comes-the-Bird-kun feeding guests when sporks have done the job effectively for thousands of years. Especially, since sporks did not have a tendency to blow up diners into smithereens. And the headaches that came with dealing with someone else's recalcitrant relative were no picnic either. Even Gwendal had to step in and become heavily involved. And in the end, despite being one of the ten nobles and after finally giving his reluctant blessing, the man had declined to attend.

Not that anyone expected all ten nobles to accept the invitations, they were busy aristocrats who had lands to take care of and people to rule. Only four out of the eight who lived away from Blood Pledge Castle accepted: Lord von Wincott whose son, Lindsey, spent hours 'helping' Anissina and Greta; Lord von Rochefort whose younger brother, Jean Luc, spent many hours in secret meetings with Gwendal and, later, Anissina; Lord von Spitzweg who spent many hours ingratiating himself to the Maou; and Lord von Grantz who... well, no one was really sure why he came considering he declined to attend council meetings. With the arrival of each noble, Yuuri's daily life became less and less casual and more and more... fussy.

"_And how he loved her oh so much  
And all the charms she did possess"_

It would have been easier for Yuuri if he could have left all the fussing to someone else like the unavailable Günter, the capricious Lady Celi or the ever-frowning Gwendal. But for some reason that Yuuri could not quite guess, the stern statesman had taken into sequestering himself in secret rooms around the castle where no one could find him. It was as if Gwendal had suddenly decided that it would be great fun to play a month-long game of hide and seek. It was both a blessing and a curse for Yuuri. On one hand, he did not have Gwendal's frown hounding him to do paperwork. On the other hand, he could never find the man when he needed help, say for example, when Anissina came to look for test subjects. It was especially annoying that Gwendal didn't completely deprive Yuuri since he dropped mounds of paperwork in the royal bedchamber in the middle of the night while the castle slept. Yuuri always woke up to the rustle of evil documents.

Yuuri could understand that the man must have some good reason to hide. Heck, he himself could honestly admit that he wanted to run and hide until Armageddon found him. But Yuuri knew Armageddon, in his blue uniform with shining blond hair and infuriated green eyes, _would_ eventually find him and there'd be hell to pay. Feeling the unfairness, Yuuri kept a barrage of complaints about Gwendal being a sneaky coward.

Until finally, Wolfram took it upon himself to lecture Yuuri.

"It's not as if he's slacking," Wolfram had scolded Yuuri. "He's doing his regular work and Günter's administrative and diplomatic duties. Plus all the wedding tasks he has to take care of. And he has met several times with Lord von Rochefort and his brother. And he's taking care of the details for Lord von Grantz's arrival. So, unless you want to take the responsibilities for any of those instead of running off with Conrart to play baseball, it's best to just keep your mouth shut."

"He's probably just knitting battalions of unrecognizable stuffed toys. And even with all that work, he doesn't need to hide himself from _me!_"

"Are you kidding me? You're the worst time-waster in the whole world. You can suck up other people's time chasing after your odd whims or doing absolutely nothing!"

When Yuuri received the same admonishment from Conrad but in a much nicer, gentler way, and leaving out the part about Yuuri being a black hole in people's schedules, he finally stopped whining about Gwendal's withdrawals.

It wasn't surprising that it was also Conrad who, a week after the promise to Greta, had dashed Yuuri's last vestiges of hope of not having the wedding. It had been after the week-long argument with Wolfram that wasn't going anywhere. It wasn't so much an argument as much as Yuuri whining and Wolfram ignoring him. When Yuuri had given the news of the wedding, he had monitored Wolfram's reaction carefully. What had registered on Wolfram's face in rapid succession were comprehension, surprise, full realization, shock, dread, disbelief, indecision, and after a long thoughtful silence and a careful sigh, capitulation. Yuuri should have taken advantage of the split second between shock and indecision and pounced, but he uh'ed and um'ed too long and the moment passed. Once Wolfram resigned to Greta's wish, there was nothing Yuuri could do or say to get Wolfram to help convince Greta that the whole thing was a foolish and silly idea.

"There's really no need to make such a preposterous commitment at this point in time," Yuuri would argue, adding sarcastically, "not that I want to deprive Anissina of the chance to blow up half the capital..." _Actually, I do want to deprive Anissina of the chance to blow up half the capital._ "But what's a little postponement when Mazoku have hundreds of years? I mean how many people marry young only to find that they're with the wrong person. People should really take their time and maybe sow some wild oats before making these decisions."

At this point, before Yuuri could think of the error of his words, he would find himself in a headlock, accused of being the worst cheater in both worlds and Wolfram would like to know whom Yuuri had been sowing oats with as Wolfram was going to let them know, personally and painfully, that Yuuri was his and his alone. Yuuri would spend much effort in calming his fiancé, assuring him that the only oats he had ever seen were baked in bread or eaten by horses and he had never ever planted anything except for those beans in elementary school during science class when they had to learn about roots and stems and buds and other parts of a growing plant.

After finally cooling down, Wolfram would only reply and shrug, "It's not my decision. Besides, you're the one that decided this. You gave your word. You're the Maou, it would be unseemly to take it back."

Sometimes, Yuuri would say, "Look, this whole thing has got to be a joke. No one can possibly be serious about it."

Wolfram would give him a disgusted look and say, "Tell that to your daughter."

And Yuuri would narrow his eyes and give Wolfram a baleful look thinking, _"That was low, Mr. von Bielefeld, using your daughter as an argument."_

Then there was the last plea from Yuuri, "I don't want to do this and you don't either, right? If we both talk to Greta..."

He never did finish because Wolfram bellowed, "YOU ARE SUCH A WIMP!!" Wolfram then left Yuuri never to be seen again at least for the rest of the day, evening, night and the following morning. He did not come to bed and when Yuuri went to Wolfram's room, it was empty.

Perhaps Yuuri's constant whining had been reason enough to drive Wolfram to a level of frustration that he needed space away from him, but Yuuri felt there was no need _not_ to come to bed. After raising the hue and cry that he couldn't find the third son of the ex-Maou anywhere in the castle, he was gently informed by Conrad that Wolfram had been with Yozak taking care of a little kerfuffle in town.

That was when Yuuri voiced his frustrations about the wedding to Conrad and asked for his help as he was not getting anywhere with his uncooperative fiancé.

It hurt to see the disappointment in Conrad's eyes and it hurt even worse when Conrad simply said, "Yuuri, you gave your word."

And because he had seen the hurt in Yuuri's eyes, Conrad tried to compensate giving Yuuri a gentle smile and offering, "If you'd like, I can sweep you off your feet and we can run away before the wedding."

True, they had a connection, but sometimes Yuuri felt it was a one way connection as he was never entirely sure when the older man was being serious. It didn't help that Conrad had the worst puns in the world and was under the mistaken impression that he was actually funny. Yuuri shook his head as if to clear his thoughts.

"No," Yuuri replied in a resigned voice. "I _am_ the Maou, I should be a better example to my subjects. I've given a promise and I should keep it."

"_Now this did happen once upon a time  
When things were not so complex"_

Even though that had been pretty much a declaration of surrender, being the stubborn, high school, baseball-loving, average, stubborn, teenage, justice-obsessed, stubborn boy that he was, Yuuri had no qualms in making it difficult for the crazy wedding planners when it came to subjecting him to their crazy wedding plans. They could get him to agree with having it, but he wasn't going to jump for joy with ecstasy and blindly follow them into insanity. Someone had to stay home and keep the fires of reason going – and yes, that's Yuuri-reason not Shin-Makoku-crazy-reason.

So Yuuri spent a great deal of time escaping from Lady Celi who was on a quest for the perfect wedding attires for all her favorite people, and from Anissina who was on a quest to arm the capital to the teeth with questionable (and probably explosive) inventions, and from Günter who was...well being his usual self multiplied by twenty.

It was only Greta from whom he couldn't escape on a regular basis. It had actually been fun listening to her chatty excitement every evening as she recounted her various wedding planning escapades with her mentor. Yuuri, also, found it amusing when Wolfram discussed those little details with her as if they were having the most normal father/daughter conversation. Their strange discourses would range from decisions on how many large, green, glassy round decorative items to have in the ballroom to strategies on how to handle Günter and his melodrama about color motifs when the last of the Merciful Yuuris lost their bloom.

Once in a while, the two would turn to him and ask him for his opinion. And Yuuri would pretend a cough to clear his throat and would declare in his most authoritative voice that, "yes, the maroon flowers would be most becoming with the green decorative items." They would then give him that strange look: the look that questioned whether Yuuri's mind had finally become unhinged. Greta would giggle and Wolfram would throw a pillow at him. Then the evening would degenerate into a laughter-filled pillow fight until Greta's exhaustion claimed her and instead of throwing another pillow, she would fall on it fast asleep.

Yuuri felt almost glad to have Wolfram around. Almost. Although Wolfram helped him escape Anissina's machinations, first by holding Yuuri's lessons that he had taken over for Günter as far away from the castle as possible and second by sacrificing his personal guards when capture was imminent. Wolfram felt a little bad about that, but then again, it wasn't as if Anissina didn't already actively recruit (force) them to participate in her experiments anyway. No man with any small amount of Maryoku was safe from her that month. However, Wolfram was not only unhelpful when it came to wedding attire fittings, he made sure that Yuuri attended each and every one of the interminable sessions with Lady Celi and her battalion of seamstresses. And when Yuuri needed to go to Earth to pick up Murata, Wolfram threw a fit.

Though Lady Celi's fittings were nowhere near as life-threatening as Anissina's experiments, they were certainly one of the dullest, most boring and most exasperating things Yuuri had had the non-pleasure to sit through. Or stand through. On a little stool. While getting pricked regularly by metal pins. And if Yuuri ever had the desire to have his opinion ignored and disregarded in the fullest degree, he knew he would only need to find a group of women (and perhaps Wolfram or Günter) discussing wedding attire.

Discounting Wolfram and Günter, Yuuri had thought his opinion didn't matter because he was a man. A manly man, he added in his thoughts. Until one afternoon when Conrad came at the same time to get fitted and had had an animated discussion with the seamstresses on the best colors and best fabrics to use. Yuuri virtually threw his hands up and gave up.

It had taken him thirty minutes of arguing not to wear the thick, red, fur-lined, royal cape and the heavy crown only to spend another thirty minutes trying to argue against a floor-length thinner red cape.

"I feel like Superman," Yuuri complained.

Conrad laughed and explained to the women and Wolfram what Yuuri meant.

After another lengthy discussion, Lady Celi and the battalion of seamstresses acquiesced with not having the floor-length cape, but they put their collective foot down when it came to not having a cape at all. They compromised on a royal blue cape that was short enough so that Yuuri didn't feel like a misplaced superhero that was about to go flying to save the world from imminent doom.

After stopping himself from calculating how many times he would need to fly around the globe at a rate faster than a speeding bullet in order to turn back time to when he arrived at the library, Yuuri barely caught the conversation regarding Wolfram's cape. The conversation went somewhat like this.

"I'm not wearing a cape," Wolfram stated.

"Okay," the evil battalion and their leader agreed.

What?! No argument? No 'Your Excellency would look stunning with this white cape'. No 'This attire cannot be worn without this necessary accessory'. No 'His Excellency needs to look his noblest, his most royal self for this very important day'. No 'Wolfie, you would look so adorable'. Just an 'okay'? What's up with that? Was he, Shibuya Yuuri Harajuku Fuuri, not the Maou, the ruler, the sovereign, the most powerful individual in this demon kingdom? He fought for an hour and he still had to wear a stupid cape and Wolfram only needed to say five words! Five! This was injustice of the highest degree!

Punishment must be dispensed; Maou Yuuri, gathering all his authority, ordered in the most commanding voice he could project, "Measure him up for a veil."

The gasps of surprised pleasure from the women caused a fleeting look of horror on Wolfram's face and the aggravation of the past hour was suddenly worth it. Yuuri was going to file that image away so he can cherish it every time he was angry and irritated at the blond. The five minutes of Wolfram's disgusted look, as the women's excited, high-pitched squealing and Conrad's quiet agreements permeated the room, was icing on the cake.

It was too bad that Greta pointed out too quickly, "But Yuuri, Wolfram can't wear a veil. He's not a bride, you know."

"Awww," Yuuri faked disappointment, "it would have been nice to see him in a veil."

"Don't be ridiculous," Wolfram said indignantly.

"...bride really doesn't seem to be the right word," Yuuri mused mostly to himself. "It implies some things, you know... doesn't quite fit." Not that the word 'wedding' fit either. To Yuuri, the word meant the union between a man and a woman. This clearly was not happening at this wedding. Call the person bride, groom, bridegroom or Chad, what did it matter, really.

At least, Yuuri finally got away from wearing his school uniform. Wolfram made sure of that. The final outfit that the evil minions of the wedding mafia had decided on was similar in cut to Wolfram's, but simpler, with less trim, no lace and no cravat. Wolfram's attire was in the same royal blue that he normally wore with wide black trim on the wrist and collar, black epaulets, black buttons and with the white lace of the undershirt peeking out. And, of course, a fancy cravat. Yuuri's attire was in the blackest black he normally wore, but with royal blue trim around the wrist, collar and running up the front covering the buttons. The trim had the same exact design as Wolfram's.

"They sure like dressing us in similar outfits, don't they?" Yuuri commented as he checked out his and Wolfram's costume.

"What are you talking about?"

"I just realized that some of our clothing, you know, coats and shirts and hats, match."

"So? What's wrong with that?"

"Put your fist up."

"What? Why?" Wolfram asked suspiciously.

"Just put your fist up."

"Do you want me to punch you?"

"Come on Wolf. Just hold your fist up in the air like this."

Wolfram did as requested looking at Yuuri with uncertainty.

Yuuri touched Wolfram's with his own fist and said, "Wonder twin powers activate. Form of – water serpents."

The room would have been filled with an overflowing silence but for the king giggling at his own joke.

Wolfram, Yuuri decided, had the most expressive face he had ever known. He suddenly understood why Lady Celi sometimes acted the way she did with her third son. How can she not? All of Wolfram's expressions were adorable, and Yuuri understood that same desire to have Wolfram wear those adorable expressions.

"_How he worshipped the ground she walked  
And when he looked in her eyes he became obsessed"_

The expression that Wolfram wore when he was drunk was a rare sight indeed. Yuuri almost wished he had the foresight to grab the digital camera when he and Wolfram went to bring Murata back from Earth for the wedding. He had expected Wolfram to be an angry, moody, violent drunk, basically pretty much like sober Wolfram but more intense so Yuuri had stayed by Conrad watching the party from the sidelines keeping a good distance from potential physical harm. He was surprised to find out he was completely wrong and that Wolfram was a giddy, happy drunk. The drunker Wolfram got, the giddier and the happier he became -- to the point that he was spreading his giddiness and happiness a little too physically.

As it turned out, it was Gwendal that was the intense, angry and violent drunk.

No one was really sure how the impromptu bachelor party got started that night before the wedding. And no one was really sure how Murata had enough time to instruct the maids on how to make a Mazoku-sized cake. And certainly no one was sure how Yozak, who had been goading the three brothers one moment and popping out of a pink and white giant confection a moment later, had enough time and had enough flexibility to get himself inside the cake. And definitely, no one knew and no one wanted to know where the white leather outfit full of straps and buckles came from, nor did they want to know why Yozak was wearing a little white veil.

Life really just wasn't fair, Yuuri thought sitting on the bed the following morning. He had only one drink the night before, the one Yozak pressed into his hands after Wolfram's catcall-provoking invasion of his mouth. Wolfram, on the other hand, participated in a marathon drinking contest with his eldest brother, the younger Rochefort and the red-headed spy, given everyone in the party drunken bear hugs, accosted five people with a slobbery kiss, rammed his tongue down Yuuri's throat as far as he could in front of an approving audience and had thrown up and dry-heaved before going to bed. Yet, when they woke up, it was Yuuri and not Wolfram that had the worst headache and body aches in history. Wolfram had woken up his same angelic, somewhat sleepy self, no sign at all of last night's debauchery. Yuuri wanted to punch him.

Yuuri cursed himself silently for disagreeing with Conrad on where to stick the intoxicated blond the previous night. They had decided that Wolfram had had enough and was not going to win any drinking contest after he grabbed Anissina and gave her a big wet one right on the lips. Gwendal had not looked happy about it. In fact, he looked as far away from happy as he possibly could, like he had swallowed a bowlful of bearbee poo and was about to punch Wolfram sending him after his twenty-two other victims to Gisela's infirmary. Yozak and Anissina wisely dragged Gwendal to his room while Yuuri and Conrad did the same for Wolfram. Conrad had been guiding his brother to the soldier's room when Yuuri said he was going the wrong direction.

Yuuri swore never to let Wolfram drink again. Aside from the abnormal giddiness and happiness and the hugging and the kissing and the vomiting, there was the small matter of a little, localized tornado that was drunk Wolfram sleeping, it was like having a hundred sober Wolframs all at the same time in bed kicking and elbowing and pushing him. He was glad someone had the foresight to tuck Greta into her own bedroom when the male bonding bacchanalia began.

Looking at the beauty take a deep contented breath, stretch pale arms and try to rub the sleepiness off half-open eyes, Yuuri decided that yes, he was going to punch Wolfram. So he did.

"Hey, what was that for?" Wolfram grabbed the upper arm that received the wimpy punch and threw a threatening glare at Yuuri.

"For being a lousy drunk," Yuuri answered.

"That is not true," Wolfram said indignantly, "Gwendal and Conrart are much worse than I am."

"Well, at any rate, you're not allowed to drink anymore... Do you even remember what you did last night?"

"...not really... everything is kind of... fuzzy..." Wolfram tried to stifle a yawn and then added, "how many victims?"

"So you do that every time, huh?"

Wolfram shrugged.

"Well, you had far less victims than Gwendal. He punched twenty-two people and you only kissed five, no six, people. Do you even have an inkling who you've been smooching?"

"Not really. And don't tell me either! I'd rather not know. It would be easier to look them straight in the eye if I didn't know."

"I'm sure other people will tell you, eventually. Why did you drink so much anyway? Are you scared about today?"

"I'm not a wimp like you."

"I don't know about that... the way you threw a fit last week when I had to go back to Earth to get Murata, I think you're pretty scared about today. Petrified even. Did you really think I was going to leave you, much less Greta, hanging?" Yuuri narrowed his eyes and put his face closer to Wolfram's, "...hmmm... I see fear in your eyes."

"I don't need to be scared. You could say I've made my peace with the devil, unlike you." Wolfram smirked. "And I still think you would have tried to escape if I didn't keep an eye on you. You're a wimp after all."

"You still haven't answered why you drank so much last night. You were kind of...um...well, I'd prefer if you didn't get drunk in the future."

"Don't worry, I can't even remember the last time I got so drunk. It was probably over ten years ago. I wasn't really planning on drinking, I should have known better than to take that first drink from Yozak. It's not really a good idea to drink alcohol after you've used up a lot of Maryoku. And Anissina had drained most of it out... just left barely enough to keep me breathing." Wolfram put his hand through his hair, "Frankly, I'm not sure why I did. It seemed like a good idea at the time. Maybe it was the shock of seeing Gwendal."

"You could've stopped after the first one."

"I wasn't really thinking clearly after the first one... besides, it's been years since I've seen Gwendal get hammered. I wanted to keep him company." Wolfram smiled a bit evilly. "How come you didn't drink? You're the one shaking in his boots about today."

"For your information, I'm not old enough to drink yet. I'm only..." If someone were to ask how old Yuuri was, he wouldn't know how to answer it. He'd been in Shin Makoku for over two years; Greta was twelve and Wolfram eighty-four. But he's still in his first year in high school. Was he sixteen or was he eighteen?

"...well I'm under twenty," Yuuri finally said.

"You're an adult at sixteen Yuuri. Last time I checked, the laws of Shin Makoku said that you can drink."

Wolfram laid back down and pulled the covers over him.

"What are you doing?" Yuuri asked as he pulled the covers back.

"I'm going back to sleep. What does it look like I'm doing?"

"You can't go back to sleep! It's midmorning already! Don't we have to be ready by eleven?"

"Hmmm... how about if you go without me?"

"You brat!" Yuuri pushed Wolfram off the bed.

"_My love is like a storybook story  
But its as real as the feelings I feel"_

Günter, if anything, was efficient. Conrad, with a strange look on his face -- a cross between wanting to rebuke, to sooth and to laugh out loud, had been looking down at his rumpled younger brother sprawled on the floor when Günter in all his magnificently-coiffed glory swept in the royal bedchamber followed by an army of servants. In a whirlwind of white and lavender-tinted silver, Yuuri found himself being tugged and pulled and bathed and dressed and brushed and perfumed and praised in all different directions. Wolfram had been kicked out of the room immediately with a parting word from Günter stating that he didn't care whether the ex-prince got dressed and showed up at the ceremony or not. A little later on, Conrad was also dismissed with a parting word that if he was going to be standing by the king all day, he'd better get dressed and not mar the majestic image of the 27th Maou Shibuya Yuuri. When Günter felt that the perfection that was Yuuri couldn't be any more radiant, he left the king to check and make sure no disasters (especially ones named Anissina) were occurring that would destroy the beautiful wedding he had so painstakingly planned.

Yuuri found himself alone, as alone as one can be with a bevy of guards, pacing up and down a festive hallway decorated with maroon flowers, green banners and large, green, glassy balls on pedestals. Despite his earlier protestations, he was anything but calm and confident. He thought it was best to hide his apprehension... trepidation... fear... panic... pure and abject terror...

No, it wouldn't do at all to show his subjects that he's... _I'm not a wimp,_ he thought to himself. The country needed to see a strong leader. Their morale demanded it. So no matter how scared stiff he was, all the people would see was a brave and valiant Maou.

A brave and valiant Maou... pacing up and down the hallway, palms sweating, heart beating erratically, jumping at any sound.

"Nervous, Your Majesty?"

"Aaack!" The brave and valiant Maou jumped three feet in the air.

After making sure that his chest was still intact, Yuuri answered, "Conrad. Don't sneak up on me like that. And it's Yuuri. Today of all days I think it would be nice if you just call me Yuuri. I need the moral support."

"We all do, Yuuri," Conrad smiled.

When it came to Conrad's suit, many would agree that Lady Celi had completed her quest for the perfect wedding attire. The white suit trimmed with gold and sporting shiny golden buttons all the way up the stiff collar would make any girl obsessed with men in uniforms swoon.

"Don't tell me _you're_ nervous." Yuuri wished he had the older man's calm demeanor.

Conrad laughed. "I don't think there's any man in our position that wouldn't be nervous."

"I suppose you're right," Yuuri conceded.

"I have faith in you, Yuuri. The wedding will go fine."

"It's not the wedding itself I'm concerned about. It's the stuff after it." Yuuri gave a sigh. "You know... it's the waiting that gets me. I just want to get it over and done with and start dealing with the consequences."

Yuuri turned around when Conrad looked over his shoulder.

"Good morning, Your Eminence."

"Good morning, Lord Weller. You look good enough to marry. And Shibuya, you look... Lord von Bielefeld was right. How did he phrase it? Oh yes, something like 'wimps and weddings don't mix'."

"It's nice for you to join us Murata. Tell me, did you make it to your room okay last night?"

"No need to worry about me. I didn't drink that much. And don't give me that look. I'm 4000 years old, you know," Murata smiled mischievously. " Anyway after the main events left, nothing much happened. We had to drag the younger Lord von Rochefort to his room, but that was about it. I had a very nice comfortable sleep. Though I did wish I had an amazing kisser accompany me to bed. But I suppose we can't all be as lucky as you."

Yuuri's face blushed bright red. His mouth opened several times only to close it again.

"You might have wanted a kisser on the bed, Your Eminence, but you might end up getting one on the kisser instead," chuckled Conrad.

"...!"

Awkward forced laughter was really the only reaction one could give to such a lame joke, but Yuuri was glad that at least it took the attention away from his embarrassment.

"Murata, why are you dressed like a priest?"

"Well I thought since the ceremony took mostly from Earth's western culture, I thought it would be appropriate."

"Considering the type of 'wedding' we're having, don't you think it would be rather inappropriate? What happened to the costume that Lady Celi commissioned for you?"

"I disagree with you regarding appropriateness. And don't worry I'll wear that suit after the ceremony. I look quite dashing in it. What are weddings for anyway but a great chance to have romantic encounters? And there's going to be lots of pretty girls today."

"You'd better not be looking at any of them, cheater," Wolfram's voice came from behind Yuuri who jumped three feet in the air again.

"Aaack..." Yuuri grabbed his chest again to make sure it is _still_ intact. "Why is everyone sneaking up on me?"

"Nervous much, Shibuya?"

"I am NOT nervous! I'm just... concerned. Why are you so calm anyway? Aren't you just a little bit anxious?"

"Other than my part in the ceremony, I don't really have a big role in this wedding. I'm not the main attraction, I get to sit in the sidelines and watch you while I rub shoulders with the most attractive available people in Shin Makoku. Actually, I'm not calm at all. I'm excited. And unlike you, I won't blunder my words."

"Honestly, Yuuri, I hope you remember them."

"Wolf, we've practiced them often enough in the past week that even Greta can say them."

"Well, it's a good thing she'll be up on the dais, she can prompt you."

"By the way Wolfram," Conrad interrupted, "after the ceremony, you won't have much time, are you already prepared for the trip tomorrow?"

"Anissina already has the vessel ready to go. I myself powered it yesterday. My bag is all packed and ready."

"You mean that little bag in the room," Yuuri said. "Won't you need more clothes than that? The trip is for a whole week."

"Where we're going, there won't be a need for that much clothes."

"And Gisela wanted me to pass along a message," Conrad said. "Make sure to go see her today. She tried talking to you last night... but. Well...you were... incapacitated."

"But in the most beautiful and delectable way," the great sage added.

Wolfram frowned at him and Yuuri mumbled a low warning at his friend whose only response was shifting the angle of his eyeglasses where the reflected light momentarily obscured his eyes.

"I'm sure she didn't mind that Lord von Bielefeld was 'incapacitated' last night," Murata teased. "I certainly didn't. In fact I look forward to..."

"Look it's Greta!" Yuuri almost shouted with relief.

After Wolfram turned around and approached his daughter, Yuuri turned to Murata with a look of disapproval.

"Will you lay off him? Why do you like to make my life difficult?"

Murata smiled enigmatically, "So how did your fiancé convince you about this trip. I would've thought you'd be too hardheaded and stubborn to agree to it."

"I am not so predictable Murata. Why wouldn't I agree to it?"

"It must've been a long argument. I just wonder how much damage he caused."

Yuuri staunchly stayed silent.

Murata laughed, "Did he duel you for it?"

"..."

"Fine. Fine. Since Greta is here, I'm sure we are expected to start getting ready. I'm heading to the throne room. I'll see you there."

"I'll go ahead with you, Your Eminence." Conrad turned and gazed into Yuuri's eyes, "I'll wait for you there Yuuri."

Yuuri returned the gesture and nodded.

"You look wonderful Greta," Wolfram had been saying as he knelt on one knee in front of their daughter.

Her outfit was identical to Wolfram's except instead of blue with black trim, hers was white with maroon trim and instead of pants, she had a skirt.

Yuuri wasn't entirely sure if it was Lady Celi who came up with the idea of dressing them in matching outfits as if to mark them as belonging together. Sure the three of them looked nothing like each other. One couldn't even point out to a single physical attribute as being the same for any two of them. Warm brown, light tan and pale skin. Brown, black and green eyes. Curly brown, straight black and wavy blond hair. Human, half-Mazoku and Mazoku. They couldn't possibly look any more dissimilar. But Yuuri knew they didn't need any visible sign to mark them as family. If people could see into their hearts, it's evident that the three of them belonged to each other.

He didn't even know when it was when he started to consciously think of the three of them as family. To the people around him, it must have been much sooner because he knew long before he felt it, that when people referred to the 'royal family', they did not mean Lady Celi and her three sons. He had always argued with Wolfram that Greta was _his_ daughter only. But he didn't remember when he stopped. Maybe it was when Wolfram scolded him regarding Greta missing him while he was living his other life on Earth. Maybe it was when they dealt with the forbidden boxes and they lost Wolfram's heart and then lost Yuuri to Soushu. Maybe it was when Wolfram left for Bielefeld and he and Greta faced many potential years without him. Or maybe it was during one of those trivial things that they find natural to do together like falling asleep, having picnics, reading to each other or braving the smells of Wolfram's paint.

"You're wearing Yuuri's pendant today," Wolfram remarked.

"Yuuri asked me to wear it because it's a special day today. Oh here, can you pin this on Yuuri? I have to go and check and make sure everything is ready."

She went and hugged Yuuri, "Do your best, Yuuri."

"Thanks, Greta. You know, you're the prettiest flower girl in the history of Shin Makoku."

"Yuuri, I'm the first flower girl in the history of Shin Makoku."

"Then, you'll be the prettiest ever." Yuuri told her as she skipped off in the direction of the throne room.

"Wolf?" Yuuri said when he noticed the Mazoku was still kneeling.

"Wolf..." Wolfram was looking down at something in his hand.

After the third time Yuuri said the name and received no response, he stood in front of the ex-prince and stooped down so his head came very close to the other boy's.

"Wolf!" he said much louder which produced the predictable effect; Wolfram sharply turned his head up hitting Yuuri's chin hard.

The guards were treated to an amusing scene of their king clutching his chin and the third son of the ex-Maou grabbing the top of his head yelling, "...you idiot!"

"I've been trying to call you and you're not paying attention!"

The ex-prince huffed, "Fine, let's just get going before they start hunting for us." He turned and started marching away.

The king fell in step with the prince and the guards followed behind.

Yuuri took a sideway glance at Wolfram and asked, "What's wrong with you anyway? You were fine a few seconds ago."

"There's nothing wrong with me Yuuri," Wolfram replied tightly.

Yuuri took another sideway glance and disagreed, but didn't voice it. Wolfram had a faraway look with lips slightly pursed as if he was remembering something unpalatable.

After a few minutes, Yuuri felt his companion start to calm down. He chanced another glance and saw the previous look replaced by a look of nostalgia. He noted that there was now a slight upturn on the lips. Wolfram was looking down at the golden brooch that Greta handed him.

"It's been a while since I've seen this," he said. "I thought you lost it or threw it away."

"Why would you think that? It's a gift from a friend on a very special occasion." Yuuri heard a light snort.

"I know the contents of all your closets and drawers. You cannot hide anything from me."

"It was in my room on Earth," Yuuri replied, "where I hide all my porn."

"What?!" Yuuri smiled when he heard Wolfram's tone.

"Nothing. I was just kidding. It was in a box in my underwear drawer. I grabbed it last week before we came home."

The golden brooch shaped like a bird with wings outstretched was the first present Wolfram ever gave him. The beautiful brat had pinned it on him right before he was crowned as Maou. Since he had taken it off more than two years ago, after he was unceremoniously dumped back on Earth, it had sat in a box in his drawer. For some reason he was no longer entirely sure of, something stemming from Wolfram's talk of Zoratia, he had wanted to show it to Greta. Greta in turn had requested that he wear it in her honor after his long rambling speech about hard work and leadership and family bonds and being wary of unscrupulous men in nightclubs... not that she was ever allowed to go to such places.

Yuuri stopped Wolfram before he turned the corner that would make the big doors to the throne room visible.

He faced Wolfram and asked, "Can you pin it on for me? I don't think I can do it straight if I do it myself."

Wolfram grabbed Yuuri's suit and was about to pin it when he stopped. Yuuri could feel the warmth of the fingers on his chest. The blond was frowning looking at the brooch.

"I don't really think this is appropriate, you deserve something better. You've come a long way since then. You've accomplished more than any Maou in our history even rivaling Shinou."

"Are you complimenting me?"

"I'm sure there is enough time for Günter to get something from the treasury."

"I don't want to wear something ostentatious, Wolfram. I want to wear something special... Ow!"

"Sorry," Wolfram said. He finished pinning the brooch quickly and brushed Yuuri's jacket then turned around and walked away with hurried steps.

By the time Yuuri caught up to him, he was already standing in front of the large double doors. They were open and the discordant sounds of hundreds of conversations floated out into the hallway. One or two people walk past them intent on some last minute business.

Wolfram crooked his arm and gave Yuuri a look that told the Maou that he'd better take the arm and let Wolfram escort him unless he wanted to get flambéed. Yuuri, who did not want die a painful death before Anissina had a chance to kill him several times with various inventions after the wedding ceremony, looped his arm through the offered one.

Slowly, they walked the length of the aisle towards the dais arm in arm. They remained quiet, busy with their own thoughts, overhearing smatterings of conversations.

"... a perfect day to have a wedding..."

"... I used her last time, but the outfit didn't come out..."

"... her older brother does not approve so he isn't going to be the one..."

"... Majesty and Lord von Bielefeld look perfect together."

"... really like those decorations. I wonder where I can get these green, glass balls."

"... seen Lord Denham von Karbelnikoff yet..."

"... you at least afraid? You've got a lot of Maryoku..."

The king and his escort stopped halfway as Conrad approached them. Wolfram let go of Yuuri's arm.

"Your Maj... Yuuri, it looks like we're almost ready. Shall we?"

The three of them continued to the steps of the dais where Murata and Günter were talking.

Günter, who displayed a look of pain after taking one look at the king, put a handkerchief over the lower half of his face and mumbled, "Your Maj..." and then took off running.

Yuuri could only look and wonder.

Wolfram gave a low hmph and stalked off towards the long wall left of the throne.

Murata looked down at Conrad and Yuuri. He asked, "Are you ready, Shibuya? You're not going to suddenly see the Maou-signal and fly off to save Metropolis, are you?"

Yuuri looked sourly at his friend as he walked up the steps. "You know I'm not sure whether to be grateful for having one other person understand Earth pop-culture references or to want to stick your head in a toilet for constantly making fun of me."

"Now, now. Isn't that how it all started?"

"Yuuri, Your Eminence, do your best," Conrad smiled as he walked off in the opposite direction as his younger brother.

"_He said, 'Don't you know I love you oh, so much,  
And lay my heart at the foot of your dress?'_

The light started dimming as thin curtains were drawn over windows. The conversations started to cease when the double doors were closed and as Lady Celi walked towards the reserved seats up front escorted by Lord von Grantz.

Music replaced the low din of conversations. The audience's attention was pulled towards the back where Greta was standing alone with a basket full of green leaves and maroon petals, beams of light playing with the curls in her hair. When the music changed to a joyful, hopeful tune, she started walking with measured steps up the aisle sprinkling it with leaves and petals. She gave a big bright smile to Yuuri as she continued up the steps of the dais. She stopped a few feet left of the throne and turned to the audience.

The music changed. It was now a majestic, almost pompous tune. The double doors were thrown open and there stood Gwendal in a green suit that rivaled Conrad's, and Anissina in a white and maroon wedding gown with flowers in her hair. As they walked arm in arm up the aisle, all throughout the room were stifled gasps at Lady von Karbelnikoff's beauty and elegance and whispered surprise at Lord von Voltaire's presence.

When they got to the dais, Gwendal looked down and gave her one of his rare smiles. It was a soft and wistful smile. The smile she gave back was bright and full of hope and ambition.

"Thank you. I would have never thought it would be you that would be standing here with me today."

"I've never been able to get away from you and you know that."

"Yes, that I do."

"I'm glad to be here."

"I'm glad you're here." She flashed him another smile.

Gwendal's voice reverberated through the room as it was picked up by the Hear-Me-Roar-kun. "I, Gwendal von Voltaire, representing family and friends, give my full support for the vows that Anissina von Karbelnikoff will take today."

With that, he took Anissina's hand, gave it a squeeze and let go. He walked the few steps past the king and the sage and stood a few feet to the right of the throne, standing opposite Greta.

Yuuri remembered little of the ceremony. It was long enough for Günter's desire for pomp and short enough for Anissina's desire for efficiency to both be satisfied. Yuuri did his part well enough not to be an embarrassment. It was really the last part that was important.

... the great sage handed a long decorated metal object reminiscent of a scepter to Anissina and proclaimed, "Shinou gives his blessing."

Anissina turned around to face the audience and gave her vows, "I, Anissina von Karbelnikoff, do solemnly swear that from today onwards, through happiness and hardships, through successes and failures, through richness and poverty, I shall be a single, independent woman of Shin Makoku devoted to the Advancement of Women Everywhere and to the Promotion of Demonic Intellectual Pursuits."

She gave the audience a big satisfied smile, and punched a button on her 'scepter'. There was a boom and confetti started raining down the audience. Anissina declared in a loud, confident voice, "Let the learning begin!"

"_She said, 'Don't you know that storybook loves  
Always have a happy ending?'"_

* * *

All in all, it didn't go too badly, Yuuri reflected the following day. His life was only placed in jeopardy twice and Conrad destroyed the machines with his sword quickly enough. There were only twenty casualties which was two less than from Gwendal's drunkenness. No deaths, only one major injury. No one fell inadvertently in love as a result of drinking the wrong potion much to Murata's disappointment. The castle remained standing up, only three rooms and half a tower were destroyed. And the only part of town affected was, thankfully, the one they had evacuated.

The best news of all was that Murata was able to convince Anissina that the Giant Annual Celebration for the Advancement of Women Everywhere Involving Lots of New Inventions needed to be enjoyed throughout the kingdom and not just at the capital. The celebration that was to take place will be moved to a different territory each year and Yuuri didn't have to host another one for at least ten years. By that time, he would find a good excuse not to be at Blood Pledge Castle. Or at the very least, help Anissina find a way to use Murata's powers so the high school genius could share the joy of being the main power source for the event.

Yuuri had been so tired that he almost missed Wolfram's departure. Greta and Wolfram had already left the castle by the time he woke up. He and Conrad had had to gallop at full speed to the dock.

He was surprised to see a very lively Anissina standing by the banana-shaped vessel. She had still been up when he dragged himself to bed in the dark morning hours. She probably hadn't slept yet, he thought.

Yuuri was also surprised to see Gisela and Lord von Grantz there.

"You're not going to leave without saying good-bye, are you?" Yuuri hollered as he climbed off Ao.

"Why, Your Majesty, I didn't think you cared," Yozak replied in a tart voice.

Yuuri's brain stumbled at that. "Of course... I... uh." He gave up and walked towards Wolfram and grabbed him by the shoulders.

Yozak winked at Conrad.

"Yuuri, I did say goodbye. It's not my fault you can't hear above your loud snores."

"It would be nice next time that you say your goodbyes when I'm awake."

"We did try to wake you up Yuuri," Greta interjected. "But you looked too tired."

"Look, just make sure to keep yourself safe, okay?"

"Don't worry kiddo, I'll keep your precious fiancé from doing anything stupid."

"Wimp, I'm only going to be gone a week. I'll be back long before you return from Earth."

"Miss Gisela, are you ready to go?"

Yuuri turned to Yozak, "Gisela is going with you?"

Yozak didn't turn to face him, instead he went to check the yellow vessel.

It was Gisela that answered, "Yes, Your Majesty, I have an errand to run and they are dropping me off on their way to Zoratia."

"Oh I see."

The three boarded the vessel after Wolfram's diatribe to Yuuri against the evils of pretty girls and handsome young men. After Wolfram thanked Anissina for the vessel and for taking care of Greta, Yozak started the engine and they went off in a yellow blur.

"Too bad, Your Majesty is also leaving today for your world. Between the Maou and the selfish loafer, that's a lot of potential energy gone."

"Don't worry Anissina, we still have Lord von Wincott," Greta said cheerfully. "And there's Lord von Rochefort and his brother. And Lord von Grantz here. And don't forget Gwendal and Günter."

Anissina flashed a mischievous smile, "and, of course, there's Wolfram's personal guards."


	6. Arrival Gate: 4 Stables

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Maruma**  
**

**Author's Notes: **Concrit welcome. And for those who asked: I am working on the Yozak side story of the bachelor's party but will post it separately.

* * *

**Arrival Gate: 4 - Stables**

_There was the time when Yuuri popped out of a water trough in the stables as Wolfram was mounting his horse. _

Wolfram glared at Dakaskos. It really wasn't the bald soldier's fault. But Wolfram couldn't help but direct his anger towards the unfortunate man. Günter's retainer was the only one around thanks to his fiancé's idiotic decision to give all the stable hands their own special holiday. Did his wimpy Maou even understand any document that was set on his desk?

Wolfram sighed. Even if Yuuri did understand, the goody-goody would have thought that giving all (all!) stable hands a whole day of celebration (at the same time!) and leaving the stables empty except for horses was a wonderful idea. Damn! The boy was still too nice for his own good.

Dakaskos offered to saddle his horse, but Wolfram waved him away. It's not as if the proud noble was against doing any type of manual labor. In truth, he enjoyed grooming his own horse. But that did not make the situation easier to swallow. Wolfram was used to having others do menial things for him. He was raised as a prince constantly surrounded by maids and servants. It was a bit disconcerting to suddenly find no one around to direct orders to. It just didn't seem proper.

However, contrary to the anger he was currently displaying, Wolfram was slightly glad since the situation presented him an opportunity. It was a little known secret that the prince enjoyed grooming his own horse. It was one of the few things that relaxed the perennially proper Mazoku. Once Dakaskos left, Wolfram released the breath he didn't realize he was holding in. He closed his eyes and massaged the frown between his brows. If this continued, he was going to start looking like a shorter, blonder version of Gwendal.

The stable was silent except for the occasional neighing and the few soft stomps of hooves hitting the dirt. He breathed in the unmistakable smell of the stables, felt his indignation diminished and his mood lightened. Smell was the most evocative of the senses. Horse dung, fresh hay, and equine sweat intermixed together held some of the earliest joyful memories of his life.

Being the youngest son of the Maou had not always granted him the kind of freedom that his proud, strong spirit demanded. Spoiled but overprotected, privileges containing any hint of danger that were easily granted to his brothers were things he had to fight for. It was bad enough that he was constantly left behind while his brothers left the castle to have, what he suspected were, awesome and exciting adventures.

The chance to ride a horse (not a pony) at the correct age would have slipped away if it wasn't for Conrart's indulgent and, at that age, somewhat rebellious attitude. His brother had sneaked him out to teach him against the wishes of his mother, his uncles and several advisors. To the young Wolfram, each session had been an adventure that filled his heart with a heady mixture of excitement and fear. Riding had given him an escape from the stuffy court filled with tiresome courtiers and his mother's suitors.

Wolfram went to the tack room to gather equipment and then proceeded to his horse's stall. He started brushing the white steed with gentle strokes. At first, he was silent, just enjoying the non-human, non-demon company. Then he started praising the animal for its loyalty, its good manners and its beauty. Soon enough, the monologue turned into an account of current events. If anyone had been around to listen, they would have been treated to a strange one-sided conversation between the prince and his stallion.

Wolfram by nature was not an open person. He was an honest person. Straightforward. Outspoken. Blunt. But open? Not really. Not when it came to his innermost feelings and thoughts. The openness that his fiancé showed made Wolfram uncomfortable. How could a person flaunt fondness and affection for strangers he'd just met? Wolfram could never to that. He could not even do that with his own family. Such openness made him feel exposed and vulnerable. It gave the other person power over him. And there was really only one person that he ever gave that power to.

Wolfram wasn't exactly sure how he ended up in his predicament. Little by little, brick by brick, Yuuri had started breaking down the barriers that Wolfram had painstakingly built up over the years. Each bath they share, each fight they start, each conversation, each argument, each night they slept in the same bed... they added up to his heart and soul being laid bare. But there was still one thing that Wolfram held for himself and not shared with Yuuri. In all honesty, he really couldn't discuss the subject of Yuuri with Yuuri. At least not the parts where his heart was concerned.

And so it was his loyal non-human, non-demon friend that received that little honor. As he saddled the horse, he started lamenting the limbo his relationship with Yuuri was in.

"I just get so frustrated with him sometimes," he complained. "I know he's young and still very immature. But he gives such mixed and confused signals."

Wolfram sighed mournfully and led the stallion out of the stall.

"And fighting the stupid Earth prejudice he has is just plain irritating. I mean how many times does he have to whine 'but we're both men' just because he wants to continue in his self-denial."

He led the horse to the water trough where it bent its head to take a drink.

"And why does he have to treat everyone the same? Don't I and Greta hold a special place in his heart? I swear every time he and Conrart sneak off to play baseball and every time he holds hands with a long-haired tramp and every time he gives that soft look to any demon, human or half-demon... I swear..."

Wolfram laid his forehead on the horse's shoulder letting the animal's strong muscles support his weary head.

"...it breaks my heart a little."

When the horse was done drinking, Wolfram gave it a piece of apple and rubbed it's forehead. As silly as the gesture might be, he nuzzled his nose against its face. Then he breathed the distinctive horse scent as if it would make his sadness go away. He held the horse's cheeks and looked it in the eyes, as much as one can look a horse in the eyes.

"It's not as if I wish I never fell in love with him. I just wish sometimes that it would be easier..." he paused and took another deep breath. "But I know, it'll never be easy. Mother never told me love is pain. But I should have known better."

Wolfram felt a sting start to prickle his eyes so he gave a bitter laugh to stop tears from forming.

"I should have know better," he repeated. "I saw the pain it caused her often enough."

He took out his handkerchief and wipe the small evidence that such open emotions elicited.

"I really should stop now before I embarrass myself," he said as he put his foot on the stirrup.

As he vaulted onto the saddle, in the split second before his bottom settled, his trusty steed decided to spook; it reared and threw him off. Wolfram could handle a bucking horse, that is if he had been seated properly. But as it was, he did not have much choice but to go flying.

No one could really blame the horse. How could one react calmly, when one had been enjoying a nice, deep conversation with one's master while munching a delicious apple, to a sudden appearance of a wet, demon-sized, non-trivial creature coming out of the water trough. The horse had seen a lot of things in its life. But it had certain expectations. One of those expectations was that demons do not pop out of swirling water in horse troughs. So the horse did what it usually did during these situations: spooked and bolted out of there.

Wolfram's body had been enjoying a nice parabolic flight in the air until the flight was shortened by a stout wooden post. His head made a nice loud crack as it connected with the hard surface. Wolfram saw stars. Then he saw red. His bottom hurt from the unexpected force of the saddle coming to meet him. His head... his head felt like it was about to break.

He didn't even know when he summoned the fireballs. He was only distantly aware that someone was yelling at him to stop. He had already released the fireballs at the figure standing in the horse trough before he realized what he was doing. Thankfully, the intended victim had grown to understand Wolfram's tempers and had learned when and how to duck properly.

Unfortunately, the dry hay behind Yuuri wasn't as astute. It decided to just lay there and be hit by the biggest fireballs the stables had ever seen. Then it decided that it was going to burn like there was no tomorrow. Then it decided to share the fire with other flammable materials surrounding it.

Panic and pandemonium ensued. The king and the prince, the great leaders of Shin Makoku's today and tomorrow, did nothing useful for the first few minutes. Unless one considered stress-relief through cursing and yelling during a dangerous situation a useful thing.

"What the hell were you thinking?!" screamed the ever-responsible king.

"I wasn't thinking, you idiot!" replied his always-sensible fiancé. "If you haven't realized, my brain got scrambled when you decided to spook my horse and my head got practically cracked open!"

"Your brain got scrambled a long time ago! Why can't you ever keep that damn temper in check?!"

"It's your damn fault for popping out of nowhere! Why do you do these things to me?! Do you hate me or something?!"

"I don't fucking hate you, damn brat! It's your fault for being right there in the first place?!" Yuuri yelled.

"What kind of a weak argument is that?! Wimp!" Wolfram was certainly no longer making sense.

"Don't call me wimp."

"Ah shit!" "Oh crap!" They shouted simultaneously when they finally grasped their dangerous predicament.

"Come on Wolf, help me put out the fire!" Yuuri stumbled out of the trough and fell head first onto the ground. He scrambled up to his hands and knees and looked around until his gaze fell on a bucket.

"Summon the water elements, Yuuri!" Wolfram shouted at the clumsy king, as he rushed over from where he was thrown.

Yuuri just stared at Wolfram with open mouth, an empty bucket in his hand.

"Uh..." was all Yuuri could utter. Instead of saying anything further, he rushed back to the trough and filled the bucket with water. Then he ran to the growing fire and dumped the contents. There was a small sizzle but it didn't do much.

"Find another bucket!" the king ordered as he refilled his. Again, he ran back to the blaze and threw water at it. The effort fizzled and the fire spat. Yuuri swore it was mocking him. He looked around for his fiancé.

Wolfram was fumbling to open the gate of the stall closest to the fire while yelling, "Yuuri, I said summon your water elements! The buckets are useless."

He had grabbed a lead rope and was struggling to put it around the horse's neck.

"What are you doing? Help me here!" The king shouted back.

"We have to get the horses out!" Wolfram cried. "Use your powers to quench the fire!"

Wolfram could see smoke start to fill the building. It was fire started by Maryoku so it should grow slower than a regular fire. But smoke was deadly nonetheless.

Yuuri went for his fourth bucket as Wolfram led the horse out of the stall pointed it away from the fire and gave it a good whack. He fought down the panic, there was only one of him and so many horses.

"Yuuri! Please go Maou-mode!" he pleaded.

"It's not that easy," the king admitted as he paused on his sixth bucket. The fire was not diminishing.

"Then get out of here!" Wolfram replied as he led a second horse out of its stall.

"What?!" Yuuri had stopped in the middle of throwing water which caused the bucket to slip and land in the middle of the blaze.

"That's the stupidest thing I've heard today," he continued.

"Yuuri! If you cannot summon your powers then get out of here!" Wolfram yelled back as he struggled with a third gate. His hands had already started shaking. This was not the time for Yuuri to be fighting with him. He needed the king out of here and somewhere safe. Only then could he start thinking clearly.

"Why don't you use _your_ powers?" Yuuri yelled back as he looked around for another bucket. Seeing none, he tried lifting the water trough itself.

"You idiot! What do you want me to do? Throw more fireballs at it?!" Wolfram shouted back angrily. The horse in the third stall was spooked and yelling at the top of his lungs was not helping the horse calm down.

"Well then, help me lift this up," Yuuri replied. "We can dump the whole content all at once."

Wolfram got out of the stall without the horse and yelled, "I told you. That's not going to help. Call on the Maou if you want the fire out! If you can't do that, I want you out of this building. Call for help or something. I just want you out! Far away."

He went to a fourth stall and opened the gate.

"Even if you say that, it's not that easy," Yuuri said as Wolfram hurriedly put the lead rope on the horse.

Wolfram looked across the stable at Yuuri while leading the horse out. "I know," he said in an understanding tone. "Don't worry, you'll be able to control your powers someday."

"I wasn't talking about that," Yuuri said as he looked around the building for something useful. Something caught his eye and he started towards it. "I meant it's hard for me to leave you."

Yuuri looked at the shiny red metallic object hopefully. "It's as if you're asking me not to breath. It's impossible, you know," he continued. "I can never leave you."

Before Wolfram could fully register what his fiancé was saying, which was difficult as he was concentrating on guiding the horse out of the building, Yuuri added, "What is this?"

Wolfram took a quick glance in Yuuri's direction and warned, "Don't touch that!".

He ran back to the third stall that contained the spooked horse hoping to get it out before the fire edged any closer.

It was too late. Yuuri barely read the sign and only saw 'Fire' written boldly in Mazoku. Considering his upbringing, which consisted of a great deal of time spent in modern buildings constructed under public safety codes, it was natural for Yuuri to assume that the red, metallic, tubular device had something to do with putting out fires. The big red shiny button in the middle was just begging to be pushed. And who was Yuuri to deny that big red button? So he pushed it.

Well, it turned out that red, metallic, tubular devices with big red buttons begging to be pushed could mean only one thing. One would know this if one were a rocket enthusiast. Or if one were more attentive and had read the label: Fly-Me-to-the-Moon-kun.

There was a small explosion that pushed Yuuri back a few feet, blackened his face, and singed the tips of his hair, and caused the horse in the third stall to become even more frightened making it buck wildly. The red thing went flying, doing a few loop-de-loops. After a few more zooms and twirls, it crashed into one of the thick wooden support beams.

The wooden post was not having a good day. Earlier, a blond demon had collided with it none too-gently. Now it was a big red explosive thing. If wooden beams could feel, it would not have been happy. Especially, since the big red explosive thing had damaged its top and the beam was now falling. If it had eyes, it would have noticed that it was falling on the same blond demon that had collided with it earlier.

For Yuuri, everything seemed to have slowed down after the small explosion. The terrified horse in the third stall was not having any of Wolfram's ministrations and had decided to try and kick the demon on the chest with its forelegs. Wolfram, meanwhile, had not noticed that a thick wooden post was making a quick descent towards his head. Yuuri's scream of "WOLFRAM!" hung in the air useless.

It was said that near-death experiences causes one's life to flash before one's eyes. Even though his heart had stopped, Yuuri was not having a near-death experience. What flashed before Yuuri's eyes was therefore not his past life but his future life devoid of one bratty blond fiancé. No. Not just a life without a blond fiancé, but a life without a Wolfram, _his Wolfram_, anywhere in the two worlds. The Dry Wind was wrong. There was a worse future than a future where Wolfram was not solely devoted to him. No amount of words could describe the pain of living that life. For, as sure as Wolfram's love, Yuuri would keep on living.

The Maou burst from the pain at the mere thought of that kind of life. An explosion of water erupted in the middle of the stables putting out the fire and blasting a hole on the roof. Two water serpents lashed out, one grabbing the wooden beam and the other, the blond prince.

Being suspended in the air held by a water serpent was not Wolfram's favorite way of spending the afternoon. Firstly, there was the issue of getting arms pinned uncomfortably tight to the body, and internal organs getting painfully squished together. He wished Yuuri was slightly less exuberant when holding on to him in this manner. Secondly, the water was damn cold. He wished Yuuri would manipulate the water to be nice and comfortable instead of freezing cold. Thirdly, there was the matter of shock of suddenly getting whisked from the ground without any warning.

Wolfram quickly got over the shock and discomfort. No matter what form it took, Yuuri's power never failed to make an impression. A sense of awe flowed over him quickly followed by a sense of fear. No one ever wants to be in the receiving end of the Maou's anger. Wolfram, who had caused the demon king's ire more than once in the past, thought back in quiet panic to determine if his words had caused this latest bout. He relaxed when he heard Yuuri rambled on with a speech about Justice, friendship, love for animals and fire prevention measurements.

...

* * *

He was sitting on one of his favorite spots in the castle. It really wasn't a spot per se, more of a large area, but he was one of a few that frequented it. The rooftops of Blood Pledge Castle were an interesting place and Yozak liked to think that he could almost find peace there.

Peace, however, refused to visit him that afternoon. Which was just as well since Yozak thrived less on serenity and more on mayhem. He had been gazing at the silent hills, wrapped in nostalgia when he saw a water spout shoot a hole through the roof of one of the outlying buildings. He was already running and jumping from rooftop to rooftop when he identified which building sustained the damage.

He almost stopped himself when he noticed no one else was heading towards the area. Anissina's Big Day was still fresh on everyone's mind; the castle denizens actively ignored any suspicious crashes or explosions. Well, it had been a dull day, Yozak decided. Perhaps chancing a little danger with Anissina wouldn't be too bad. The mixture of fear and desire had always been an intoxicating combination.

He was only mildly disappointed when he looked down through the hole and saw the scene in the stables. He almost whistled at the amount of damage caused by the king and his fiancé. Whatever the argument was, it must have been pretty intense. He wondered briefly if the kiddo had finally got himself a girlfriend or if the brat finally lost his patience.

Yozak felt _his_ presence before he saw him. The argument below had gone into a lull and was about to start again. He didn't want his entertainment interrupted so he stood up and waited for the newcomer.

Conrart slowed down when he saw Yozak waving at him. He looked regretfully at the stables' entryway before climbing the wall to join his comrade.

"Yozak," greeted Conrart in a questioning tone.

"Now, now," Yozak placated. "His Majesty is not in any danger. Let them have a few minutes to themselves. It's been a few weeks, they've missed each other."

"Everyone has missed His Majesty," Conrart pointed out.

"Aw, come on, Captain. Don't spoil the fun," pleaded Yozak playfully.

Conrart's palm met his forehead when they looked through the hole at the current scene below. The two boys had escalated the argument to a physical level involving a rather questionable choice of projectiles. Conrart shook his head and Yozak gave him a big grin.

"Sometimes we forget they're still in puberty," Conrart commented.

"We used to be like that," Yozak said, a little melancholy in his voice.

"Yeah, it had certainly been fun." Conrart smiled.

"You don't have fun anymore."

"Why would you think that?"

"You don't really believe you can fake me with that smile do you?"

"Yozak, believe me when I say I have never been happier in my entire life."

"I just don't think it's healthy."

"What do you mean?" Conrart frowned.

"You used to be so much more passionate and alive."

On a rooftop while watching Yuuri and Wolfram have a horse dung fight was probably not the best time or place to have a serious heart to heart conversation. But Yozak knew one had to take these opportunities as they come before they disappear altogether.

"It just seemed," Yozak said thoughtfully, "since the war, since you met Julia, you weren't the same anymore."

"I grew up."

"Are you saying I haven't?"

"Yozak, even though we were the same age, you were already grown up when I met you. I was still a child and continued being a child. You found your meaning long before I did. Maybe that's what happens when you're a pampered prince."

"I still think that part of you died."

Conrart sighed and looked thoughtful. "You have it backwards. After Wolfram turned away from me, it became different. He was still important... but I lost the seed of purpose... It was the bigger part of me that was until then laid lifeless... Julia... Julia, she brought me to life. She saved me... took me out of darkness."

"Well, that was corny as hell Captain." _Why her? Why not me_?

Conrart chuckled.

"And the kiddo? I asked you this over two years ago. Are you really satisfied with just babysitting him?"

"My life is his. Without him, my life would mean nothing."

"I don't understand, why one person. What happens when that person changes? It's not a good idea to base your life on the whims of one individual. One's ideals shouldn't be subject to the caprice of another."

"No, Yozak. Her soul... his soul is perfect. You can no more separate light from the sun as you can separate the ideals I live for from Yuuri."

"Light is light, the sun is different. Someday, perhaps the sun will burn down. As for me, it's the light I follow."

"You serve His Eminence with the same loyalty and obedience I serve His Majesty."

"I don't blindly follow His Eminence."

The accusation hung in silence on the rooftop while below the purpose of Conrart's life tackled Conrart's brother and a muddy wresting match ensued.

"Why are you unhappy for me?" Conrart broke the silence.

"I just don't want you led astray." _Again._

"I can think for myself. But more than that, I have faith."

"What will you do, Captain, when Wolfram becomes the most important thing for His Majesty."

"I wonder if that will ever happen."

"You must be blind."

"No, I don't doubt that Wolfram will become the most important person in Yuuri's life. For all we know, he may already be. But as to the most important thing... I don't know."

Conrart let several moments pass before adding, "Julia sacrificed her love for Adelbert."

"His Majesty is not Julia..."

"I'm fully aware of that."

"As I was saying His Majesty is not Julia. Perhaps the kiddo's love will become stronger than hers... or his resolve may be weaker. As I see it, and don't beat me up for this, if I were to choose between Adelbert and Wolfram, I'd take your brother to bed first."

Conrad shot Yozak a look of warning then shook his head.

"By the same token, Wolfram is not Adelbert. If Yuuri had not returned, he would have become Maou."

"True, your brother's heart and soul may be purer. He's got the same self-sacrificing and idealistic idiocy as you. I wonder if it runs in the family. Maybe not, the Commander is certainly more pragmatic. But at any rate, His Excellency Wolfram, admirable and powerful as he may be or may become, even he cannot control everything in this world. What happens when His Majesty has to choose..."

"I have faith in Yuuri," Conrart replied with a sense of finality.

"I just don't think it's healthy to place your whole life on one person."

"Everyone has the same love for His Majesty, why must you be discontent just because I've dedicated my entire life to him."

"Because it borders on fanaticism."

"If you are implying I'm a mindless fanatic, I wonder whether you know me at all."

"I'm just trying to say, Conrart," Yozak looked at him straight in the eye, "that you are _not_ a shrine maiden."

Conrart smiled mischievously and said, "So if I sleep with you, you would shut up?"

Yozak chuckled. "Touché, Captain."

Then he added, "Though, of course, I'd only do it for your own good."

...

* * *

Wolfram landed painfully on his rear on the sodden ground when the water serpent disappeared. Before he could even catch his breath, he was already up and running towards the collapsed king. Yuuri had started to get up and Wolfram put his arms around Yuuri for support. To his surprise, Yuuri pushed him back.

"How many times do I have to tell you people, I don't want your sacrifice," Yuuri yelled. "I don't want your arm, I don't want your chest, I don't want your life, your lungs, your heart, whatever! I want my friends to be beside me. Alive and happy! Not dead! I don't want you to push me away for my own protection! Why can't you get that through that thick skull of yours!"

Wolfram stared at the flushed and breathless demon king, and crossed his arms unsure where Yuuri's anger was coming from.

"What? What are you talking about? How many times do we have to have this argument? You're the Maou, get used to being protected. Besides I'm your fiancé, it's my duty..."

"And where are you getting these duties of a fiancé? An engagement is a promise to marry not a promise to push the other to safety while you jump into danger. How do you think the other person feels? Show me in what book it says that you have to constantly put yourself in harm's way!"

"Are you trying to deny me my rights?!" Wolfram glared at him. "That's it. I'm not going to listen to your obtuse statements anymore, you dolt!"

Wolfram flicked his bangs and turned around. He walked towards the middle of the stables and looked up at the hole in the ceiling.

"Maybe I should end the engagement, then you won't have these silly fiancé rights anymore."

Wolfram eyes almost popped out of their sockets. "What?!" he exclaimed as turned to face Yuuri.

"Hah! I thought you're not listening anymore," Yuuri gloated.

Wolfram immediately turned around abashed. At least, Yuuri was done with his apoplectic rant.

Yuuri let out a big sigh and stood staring at Wolfram for a few moments. "As a husband, I wonder if you'll become a bit more subdued. No, you'll probably just get more obnoxious. Breaking the engagement will just make you angry and I'd like to live a long and fruitful life. It'd be useless anyway because you'll just say something about your duties as a soldier or a citizen of Shin Makoku. Maybe I should exile you. Yeah..." Yuuri rubbed his chin at the thought, "...I'll just dump you on Earth and you and Mom can spend time happily talking about dresses. And maybe, Shori can start obsessing about protecting you instead... Hey! Hey, Wolf, are you listening? Wolfram!"

Wolfram, who was busy checking for horse casualties and assessing the damages to the stables, was clearly not listening. Yuuri was irritated that the third son of the ex-Maou seemed more interested in the blackened walls, the blown-apart stalls, and the remaining horses than to Yuuri's discourse.

Yuuri did not like being ignored especially since he hasn't even received a 'welcome home', an 'I'm glad you're back' or an 'I missed you'. Perhaps Yuuri's choice to get attention wasn't the most mature. But after all the crazy things that had happened in the few minutes since he'd been back, he felt very much like acting his age, that is, like a stupid teenager with hormonal problems.

For Yuuri, the whole homecoming was crystallized into a Mastercard commercial once the fecal missile he threw found its target:

- Safely arriving in Shin Makoku: one spooked horse

- Playing with Anissina's device: one half of the royal stables

- The look on Wolfram's beautiful face after getting hit by horse dung thrown by his beloved fiancé: Priceless

Wolfram stood frozen. He wasn't really sure how to react to this new experience. No one had ever had the gall to throw offensive substances at the proud prince. Yuuri briefly thought of running away. He's seen that look on the prince only once, the moment after his unfortunate and unintended proposal.

Yuuri watched Wolfram warily as the other boy walked into the nearest stall. He wondered why he hadn't been attacked by several fire lions or why he wasn't being choked to death yet. He started getting worried; perhaps the earlier crash injured his friend's head worse than he thought. Half a second later, he realized he didn't need to worry when Wolfram's retaliation hit him on the face.

_Oh, this is war pretty boy_, he thought as he wiped the dung off with his sleeve. And for good measure, he said it out loud as he ducked behind the nearest half-wall.

"Do your worst Wimp!" replied the blond enemy.

Picking up some ammo, he lobbed it at the face of the prince that was still standing proudly with hands on his hips. Unfortunately, the enemy easily avoided the attack and rolled to the floor. Before he could react, Yuuri was hit on the arm.

"How did he do that so quickly?", Yuuri thought. He jumped into the next stall and was about to peek into the aisle when another projectile whizzed a few inches from his face. He decided to bombard the stall Wolfram was in by haphazardly lobbing poop in a wide arc. Wolfram escaped to a different stall, and from behind a horse sent a precise attack on Yuuri's exposed back.

The fight went on for a few minutes and Yuuri was losing. He would have never thought that Wolfram would be good at this game. Heck, he would have never thought that Wolfram would participate in this bizarre, unsanitary game.

Well, Yuuri wasn't about to surrender yet. As they moved from stall to stall, dashing behind different objects, Yuuri found his chance. Wolfram was bent gathering ammunition and had not realized that Yuuri had dropped into the same stall. Yuuri didn't bother picking up any dung and just launched himself bodily onto the prince tackling him to the ground.

They rolled around the muddy floor trying to punch and kick and grapple different body parts. Fortunately for Yuuri, he had the advantage of surprise and Wolfram found himself lying on his back with arms pinned above his head and Yuuri straddling his stomach. The prince would have thoroughly enjoyed the position if he wasn't covered in horse dung, mud, soot and hay.

"Gotcha!" Yuuri said triumphantly.

Wolfram merely smirked. He enjoyed a few more seconds of having his beloved on top of him before he moved. Within a flash, Yuuri found himself on his stomach, kissing dirt, Wolfram's knee on his back and his right arm painfully crooked behind him.

"Say you surrender," said an evil voice above him.

Yuuri struggled to buck Wolfram off and yelled, "Never!"

"I hate doing this to you," Wolfram replied as he put more of his weight on Yuuri's back and pushed the arm into an even more painful angle. "Say you surrender!"

"Damnit!" Yuuri cursed and struggled some more.

Wolfram decided to straddle the king, push his head down on the ground and finally applying more pain to the right arm.

"Aaarrgg! Fine! Fine! I surrender!"

Wolfram smiled. But before he released Yuuri, he said, "Maybe I should ask for a wedding date."

"What!!"

"Just kidding."

Wolfram rolled off laughing, rolled onto the ground and sprawled on his back beside Yuuri. Yuuri rolled onto his back and both of them stared at the chaos they had caused. Some of the walls were blackened. There's a big hole in the ceiling. One of the main support beams was lying on its side. Several of the stalls were torn apart. Half the horses were gone while the ones left were idly milling around.

"Gwendal's going to kill us," Wolfram commented.

"Don't remind me," Yuuri replied as he repeatedly hit his head on the ground. "How do I end up in situations like this?"

"Don't ask me. You're the one who ruined my afternoon ride."

Yuuri rolled to his side, put his elbow on the ground, and rested his head on his hand. He looked down at Wolfram and wondered at his beauty. The blond looked like a wild child with wet hair pointing in all directions. He was covered in mud, dung and soot. Hay was stuck all over his crumpled clothes and in his hair. His cheeks were flushed and he had that contented look that made Yuuri happy.

"As long as it's you, I don't mind ending up in weird situations like this," Yuuri said. A long beam of sunshine peeked out of a cloud, came down through the hole in the ceiling and struck the blond. Wolfram put his hand up and spread his fingers out staring at the sunbeam hitting the skin between his fingers.

Yuuri was mesmerized. What a weird time for the clouds to move. He could almost hear angels descending from on high and praising the mud-covered beauty. Yuuri was feeling all kinds of silly and dorky from the thought. "You know, it's nice to spend time with you like this. We rarely get a chance to spend time together."

"What do you mean?" the prince asked as he move his gaze from his fingers to the king. "I'm always by your side."

"But that isn't the same. We're always surrounded by other people. And there's always some big thing going on. Threats of war, someone getting kidnapped, nefarious plots, secret societies, Gunter's big celebrations. Even when nothing is going on, Conrad is always with us or Gunter or Greta or everyone else. Which I don't mind. I love everyone and I like spending time with them. But this is nice, just spending time alone, just the two of us."

"You're so cute when you're being oblivious," Wolfram gave him a big smile.

"What? Don't say embarrassing things like that," protested Yuuri. "And what do you mean I'm oblivious."

Wolfram sat up and nodded towards the hole in the ceiling and said, "Yozak and Conrart have been up there for a while now."

"What?!" Yuuri almost hit his head on the ground from the surprise.

As he sat up, Conrart and Yozak jumped down and made their entrance.

"Welcome home, Your Majesty."

"Hello kiddo, Your Excellency."

"I'm glad to be home," Yuuri said smiling. "And call me Yuuri, Conrad."

Yozak let out the whistle he had been holding in. "Wow! You know what they say..."

"Yozak," Conrad warned.

"They say the more explosive the lovers' fight, the more explosive the makeup se..."

"Yozak!" Conrad interrupted.

Yozak continued anyway, "Too bad Greta sleeps with the two of you, right Your Majesty?"

"Huh?" replied the confused demon king.

Wolfram rolled his eyes, got up and sauntered towards the exit almost colliding with a grinning redheaded inventor.

"It looks like I missed the fire. But this is perfect for my Fix-Damages-From-Explosions-kun," Anissina declared. "Gwendal!"

She rushed off to find her belabored friend and left an alarmed quartet who promptly started leading the rest of the horses out of the stables. The animals had taken enough abuse as it was without having to suffer through Anissina's scheme.

"By the way," Yuuri asked, "shouldn't we have some type of fire prevention plan? I mean other than keeping Wolfram away from combustible materials. We don't want an accident like this getting out of hand in the stables again."

"There is a plan, Wimp," Wolfram replied. "But it involves having stable hands in the stables."

"Oh..." Yuuri replied. From Wolfram's tone, he could tell that somehow he was at fault. "...um..."

Conrad smiled gently and supplied the answer to the unuttered question, "Today is the holiday you gave them."

"Ah!"

"Hmph!"

"Sorry, Wolf."

"There's no help for it when we have a kind-hearted and wimpy Maou," Wolfram paused before adding, "I'm glad you're home."

Yuuri gave him a soft smile, somehow it felt that he finally got what he was waiting for. "It's good to be home."


End file.
